Red Yarn

♥ This is really good!...

2012-02-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

Excerpted from All There Is
Leroy A. Morgan, 85
Remembers his late wife, Vivian

“My wife and I were in Philadelphia, and we saw a sign that said SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE. I will never forget it: It had six points to always say to your wife or husband and the first one was YOU LOOK GREAT. The second one was CAN I HELP? The third one was: LET’S EAT OUT. The fourth one was I WAS WRONG. And the fifth one was I AM SORRY. But the last and most important one was I LOVE YOU. That was it. There were six statements, and it said if you follow that, you’ll have a successful marriage. So we followed it, and we did have a successful marriage.
“It lasted fifty-three years, two months, and five days. It’s been rough, but every morning when I wake up she’s included in my prayers and I talk to her every night when I go to bed. She was something. One thing: If they ever let me in those pearly gates, I’m going to walk all over God’s heaven until I find that girl. And the first thing I’m going to do is ask her if she would marry me, and do it all over again.”

6 Phrases to Use for a Successful Relationship

You Look Great.
Can I Help?
Let’s Eat Out.
I Was Wrong.
I Am Sorry.
I LOVE YOU.

Read the whole article here!

oh Ryan Gosling...

2012-02-14T16:15:00.001-05:00

First there was Handmade Ryan Gosling on Twitter. Now there is Real Food Ryan Gosling on Tumblr! I am CRACKING.UP! Of course because I think maybe I sound like this and hey, Ryan Gosling makes it sexy. My kids also think I'm "up there in the top 10% of Moms" since I know what a meme is. (If you have teens, then you probably know that it's a picture or saying on a theme, and people add their own twists to it.) There... now you're in the top 10% too! :P Enjoy this meme!
Hope you're having a good Valentine's Day! ♥♥♥♥♥ Hey girl, that cod liver oil makes your heart so fine!

wisdom

2012-02-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

"You shouldn't do something just for the sake of doing it. It ought to be meaningful, beautiful, intelligent or genuine."

~ Joette Calabrese

time for the love bug...

2012-02-09T10:27:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's that time of year again when I have to come up with something for the loves of my life! (As much as I am a love bug, this is my least favorite holiday. I don't know why-- it's the holiday where chocolate abounds!!)

I've wanted to do a few posts and hopefully I will if I get a chance--

:: I'm almost finished with Radical Homemakers - awesome book!

:: Cure Tooth Decay is a radical way of understanding how our teeth remineralize from the inside out, not the outside in! And flouride, especially in your drinking water, is bad. This is based on the studies by Weston Price who was the first ADA President. Indigenous tribes with excellent nutrition and who never brushed their teeth, had straight cavity-free teeth!

:: I've been busy making fermented mayo, ketchup, sauerkraut (again) and Kefir Juice. So yummy and all so full of good probiotics! Who knew mayo could be so healthy and delicious??

:: They played teaser episodes for the new Sherlock Holmes on Masterpiece Mystery with Benedict Cumberbatch. The whole family loved it and can't wait until May 6 when it starts! They take the classic stories and film it in the 21st century settings-- brilliant! In the meantime, Caroline and I are in love with Downton Abbey!

:: I cured my burnt finger last night with a homeopathic remedy. Homeopathy is my newest passion and I'm considering actually studying it as a practitioner (or doctor). All of this nutrition and natural healing is fascinating to me! Have to think longer on making that 4+ year commitment to schooling.

:: We finally got some snow yesterday... the first of 2012! We were planning on snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing this February but I don't think there's enough to actually do it. :(

That's about it (I think) for now. I've been in my Sugar Detox Class which has been a miracle and also taking my Fermentation Class which lasts for several months (this month is condiments, obviously!). It's all good and I've lost 10 lbs. that have been hanging on forever, but more importantly, I feel great. I have been doing my Pilates too (though I missed one week being sick) so it's been a slow start but I'm in love with that also... that's a lifetime thing for me too!

Hope all is well where you are!

cancer

2012-02-04T11:54:00.008-05:00

Cancer is that dirty word and even worse disease that it seems like everyone has some sort of connection to-- whether it be a family member or a friend or just an acquaintance. It's everywhere today. This fact has had me on a search for how to keep my family healthy, and not from drugs. This is why I post so much about health issues. Because, really, my illustration and crafts are nice idle work, but my work at feeding and keeping my family well has tremendous effects on our quality of life and the lives of our future generations. In my own family we have one person who has suffered from throat and tongue cancer and has lost his tongue to it, now only able to eat with a stomach tube because swallowing is impossible and cannot talk, so there was a loss of career with it also along with a loss of lifestyle in general. One person had a brain tumor and died from radiation and chemo because it weakened him so much. One person had breast cancer and her breast was removed. One person had skin cancer and it left a scar the size of a golf ball. One dog died from tumors that spread from it's back to it's internal organs. One person had Hodgkin's Lymphoma which occurs in the lymph nodes. These are all family members of mine. This doesn't even list friends or others I know who have cancer. This is serious business.

The only way to stop this is to change the way we eat and what we use because everything we put in and on our body is either good and healing or bad and harmful. It's that simple.

Here is a link to a list by Joette Calabrese, HMC, CCH, RSHom(NA) called "Don't Get Cancer! 51 Ways to Protect Your Family; A Homeopathic, Nutritional and Common Sense Perspective". I lovingly encourage you to read it. Her website is very informative too if you're interested in Homeopathy.

One more thing: If you're scared of raw milk, as the FDA and Government have been SO good at doing, then you have to read Jen's article about the safety of raw milk compared to pasteurized milk and other foods: click here. Pasteurized milk made 12 people sick in PA last year but no news stations or papers reported it! There is a societal bias against raw milk but those who drink it know better. Unfortunately some states made it illegal (yes, that milk that everyone's ancestors drank! It's a wonder we are all here today!!). What I have just learned is that people's intestinal health determines who gets sick from pathogens and who doesn't. Even Louis Pasteur wrote about this in his later years. He said he made a mistake in his work on pasteurization and that it did not promote good health. He said it was not at all about the germs but about "the terrain". The terrain is where those germs land and the health of the body to expel them. And as things happen in synchronicity with me, we were watching "The Daily Show" with John Stewart and he had David Agus, a cancer physician and writer, on who wrote the book The End of Illness which just came out this year. He states this same idea that illness from inflammation, cancer, heart disease, and things like Alzheimer's, are all internal and can't be solved with a pill. It is up to us to create a healthy body through what we eat and with exercise. I hope the world will embrace this idea. It just might save us!

My love for my raw milk dairy

2012-02-02T08:13:00.001-05:00

My story is the same as many people-- my poor health and exhaustion led me to a new diet of real foods and I wanted my children to have the milk like their Daddy had growing up on the farm. I have never been able to tolerate pasteurized/homogenized milk well and thought it was lactose intolerance, but it wasn't. We tried real raw milk and it tasted so good and made us feel good too! I had a tough time finding it as there were very few places that even sold it, which is pretty odd considering I live in the middle of dairy country! I researched it before we tried it and found out that the cows were cleaner, free of antibiotics and the hormone rGBH which now scientists are saying could promote cancer. The regulations are five times as tough on raw milk dairies and the FDA watches them closely. I knew the health benefits of drinking raw milk but I also knew that our safety was in our farmer's hands. (As it is in with any food.) This past fall we had a little health food store open in downtown Lancaster called Lemon Street Market which is completely wonderful! I find all my WAPF foods there. They were carrying raw milk from Your Family Cow and when I saw that it was from Chambersburg, it made me thrilled to support the Farmer from the area my husband grew up in! I wanted milk from Jersey cows which have the best milk fat and taste, and cows that grazed on clean chemical free grass. Their cows do just that. And when I checked out their "FAQ" page on their website, I found out that Edwin Shank, the owner, goes above and beyond the state requirements for testing of his milk for safety. One big reason is that he and his family all drink it too! I also found out how lovely this family is-- they are people of strong faith and integrity. They are truly caring about their customers. When I signed up for emails from them, it came across in every letter. How often is it that you know the farmer who produces your food and you look up to them as examples in farming and more so, in life? I also found out that they sell eggs and poultry meat from chickens that are free to peck in the field, grass finished beef, and a number of delicious dairy products. They have a store there on the farm, but they also distribute to the whole state of Pennsylvania because the demand for their food and milk is very high. If you happen to be in this state or on the border, you can contact the Farm to find out if there's a drop-off point near you. If not, you can arrange one. I have other real foodie friends who also love their milk! I would like to see a time when people start depending on their local farmers instead of giant food corporations to provide nourishing food for their families and for farmers to be as caring and excellent as the Shank family at Your Family Cow!

What a week!

2012-02-01T19:51:00.001-05:00

Sometimes life gets so fully busy, it makes my head spin and that has been my last two weeks! How can I even tell you everything that's kept me from my blog! It's impossible. But I'll give you the lowdown and there's a couple things I've been dying to write about and they deserve a full post.

I spent two weeks ago sick with an UTI which by the end of the week took me to the doctors and the pharmacy for antibiotics. I hate antibiotics. No, I despise them. They wipe out every bit of good gut flora that I've been working so hard to establish so I can fight any cold or flu that comes along, in addition to healing from my discovery of the gluten intolerance. So... here we go again!

Then Nathaniel came down with a terrible stomach bug which sent him to bed with high fevers and flu like symptoms (I'll leave that up to your imagination). I was by his side the whole time and the fever started Sunday and didn't start to go down until Wednesday. That's when Caroline caught what he had and another one was in bed! I was on and off the phone with the nurse line. Finally on Thursday I took him to the doctor and they ran tests (which I didn't get back until Sat.). Of course Thursday night I knew I had succumbed to it also and all three of us were basically on water, pedialyte and gaterade. Not a great way to lose weight so don't try it! Poor Craig took care of us all.

In the meantime, while tweeting "help!", I made a new friend Jen who tried her best to give me some advice during the fever of the kids. I'd been following her tweets because we're both Traditional Foods advocates and I like how she writes. I had no idea that she lives about 2 hours away from me! And has been talking to me from California while she's there. There's a lot of flu going around everywhere here and every cashier I talked to said they had had it and the receptionists when I'd call to reschedule appointments would say they just heard from three other people who had the flu.

To make a very long story short, Jen and I both get our raw milk from the same dairy and that farm was accused of having caused the stomach bug. We couldn't believe that because we had drank two gallons of the milk and the only one who was sick was Nathaniel and his friend had gone home sick with the flu the day before he got sick!

That's when I found out the sordid world of the Health Dept. and the news media. The Farm sent out compassionate letters to it's customers saying that two different testings of their milk (and they do them regularly) showed it to be 100% free of any pathogens. BUT the Health Department found three different families with this stomach bug who all drink raw milk, so they immediately draw the conclusion that it must be the source. Then they tested the milk from the families. All of it showed up as 100% free of any pathogens again. In the meantime, the small local newspaper had a reporter who decided to print the article that the raw milk of this farm was definitely linked to 6 cases of campylobacter! And it continued up to 20. The Health Dept. and the Dept. of Ag never stated that nor had production of the milk stopped. Farmer Edwin decided to hold off on production until all testing was completed just to be sure. He has gone above and beyond to make sure everything is safe. (Which by the way, his whole extended family drinks the milk and no one had gotten sick and many, many other customers were fine too.) The big problem here is that the little rinky dink article hit the main newswire and suddenly papers in Philly, Baltimore, and beyond were stating that there was definitely a link! That's when Jen and I stepped in and I left as many comments on each of their blogs stating that the paper misprinted the facts-- all tests were negative and that a link had not been established. We knew this could hurt the farm's business and that just isn't right. I also wrote the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund to ask them for help and now they are following the story. I even got emails from Bill Marler! If you don't know who he is, then do you remember the Jack in the Box scandal with the e.coli in the hamburgers? His business is going after any food poisoning and he has a website designated about how unsafe raw milk is (sheesh). Actually today Bill wrote a very flattering blog post about Edwin Shank, our farmer and that was really nice of him, and totally caught us all by surprise!

So, with all of that going on, and the kids going back to school-- one on Monday, one on Tuesday-- and me finally getting out of the house for the first time today... that's why you haven't heard from me!

I really hope your week wasn't like mine. But we all have to have those weeks to appreciate the wonderful normalcy of every day. I'm so grateful for my health. And we found out that Craig can cook a mean Roast Chicken (and make delicious broth!) himself plus all the other sides... and clean up! I was so impressed. Though it's torture to smell a roast chicken when you're lying in bed unable to eat anything! I determined that that is exactly how heaven smells. I'm looking forward to it!

Speaking of, Obama also majorly crossed Catholics and Christians in general this past week with the mandate to fund birth control and abortions in health insurance. This was a huge shock and I am upset about this too. I had just tweeted a link to an article about how bad birth control is for the mother and future children she may have and then this! If you've not heard of Natural Family Planning, then I urge you to find out about it. I'm sorry I didn't look into it before I had children but you can bet my kids will know all about it! I would hate to be in Obama's shoes right now!

More soon!

on my wish list

2012-01-25T09:52:00.003-05:00

I am an introvert raising an introverted daughter. Sometimes I think I might be doing something wrong, but then I realize, that's just how I was too. In some situations I am still shy but not like when I was a little girl. Most of the time, it was not shyness but just a quiet personality. I watch and listen and take things in much before I'm ready to speak. And being the center of attention is not something I feel comfortable about. I wonder if more bloggers are introverts who like to contemplate things and then write their thoughts? That would be me. I never wished for a large audience on here but some really good friends or for some comments that made me think... or even just some encouragement. My daughter is not shy in school. I made a conscious effort to teach her to be more self-assured. But she comes home exhausted from a full day of conversing and being social. She has aspirations of being a writer, a very introverted type of career. I think I should read this book and maybe learn how to see it in a different light. The most odd thing to me is that I married an introvert but we ended up having an extrovert for a son! I don't know how that happens (maybe because he's the youngest?) and we enjoy the differences, though when we are all content to stay home and be quiet, he gets bored and wants to connect with friends or some social activity! Do you think bloggers are more introverted or is it a mix of types of people who blog?

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

thinking positively

2012-01-19T16:39:00.001-05:00

A friend sent this link to me and it was just what I needed to hear! This blog Positively Positive is great and I'm going to make an effort to stay in a positive mindframe. I'm also going to share this with my kids! Maybe you'll want to print them out and look to them also...

50 Lessons I Wish I Had Learned Earlier

by Nancy Sathre-Vogel | January 14, 2012 | Inspiring, Living

Now that I’m old and gray (but not quite in my rocker yet!), I look back on my life and think about things I wish I knew earlier. It would have made my life so much easier if I knew then what I know now. Here’s my list of things I wish I could turn back the hands of time to tell my younger self. Maybe it’s not too late for you.

You’re stronger than you think you are.
Mistakes teach you important lessons. Every time you make one, you’re one step closer to your goal.
There is nothing to hold you back except you.
You can press forward long after you can’t. It’s a matter of wanting it bad enough.
No matter how much progress you make there will always be the people who insist that whatever you’re trying to do is impossible.
You are limited only by your own imagination. Let it fly.
Perception is reality.
Your instincts can be trusted.
There is only one question to ask yourself: “What would you do if you were not afraid?”
It’s often hard to tell just how close you are to success.
The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake.
Never let success get to your head, and never let failure get to your heart.
You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life.
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
Do what you love, not what you think you’re supposed to do.
Laughter is the best medicine for stress. Laugh at yourself often.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the great things you have that money can’t buy.
Forgiving yourself is far more important than getting others to forgive you.
If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, you’ll often find that you’re right.
Be nice to yourself.
For the most part, it doesn’t matter what people think. Follow your own truth.
No education is wasted. Drink in as many new experiences as you can.
Making one person smile can change the world.
Don’t forget to enjoy your journey!
You never know how strong you really are until being strong is the only choice you have.
Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
You cannot change what you refuse to confront.
Crying doesn’t indicate that you’re weak. It doesn’t always solve your problems either.
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.
Give up worrying about what others think of you.
When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.
You have to accept that some things will never be yours, and learn to appreciate the things that are only yours.
As Henry Ford put it, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.”
Don’t be afraid to move out of your comfort zone. Some of your best life experiences and opportunities will transpire only after you dare to lose.
Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough and smart enough to let go.
You’ll rarely be 100% sure it will work. But you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.
Don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future for too long. Right now is life. Live it.
No matter how cautiously you choose your words, someone will always twist them around and misinterpret what you say. Just say what you need to say.
Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of good luck.
If you are passionate about something, pursue it, no matter what anyone else thinks. That’s how dreams are achieved.
If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.
What lies before us and behind us are tiny matters when compared to what lies within us.
Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.
It’s not about getting a chance, it’s about taking a chance.
If it were easy everyone would do it.
Be vulnerable.
A problem is a chance for you to learn.
Regardless of the situation, life goes on.

Life is for the living. It’s up for grabbing onto and living on the wild side. Life is not about sitting safely in the harbor, but about casting off the bowlines and heading into the unknown. Live life to the fullest today.

Pilates

2012-01-17T19:44:00.000-05:00

Absolute Pilates

I have some news to share with you-- I've been taking Pilates at a studio downtown for the last two weeks and I love it!! I've done tapes in the past (you know, Mari Winsor!) but I thought it would be more beneficial to have someone show me if I'm doing things correctly. And I also wanted to try the Reformer and some other equipment. The instructors at this studio have backgrounds in physical therapy, sports medicine and ballet, as well as their Pilates training so I know I'm in good hands. This is important because of past back pain and a really badly twisted ankle. It's important for any class you take, to find people educated in physiology so you don't hurt yourself. If you don't know much about Pilates, it is a lot of stretching and working the muscles, especially focusing on your core, which supports all the other muscles in your body. When Joseph Pilates developed these exercises, he studied animals and the way they stretched and moved, and also because of being a very sick child, made movements that were gentle on the body. Breathing is a big part of it too... in fact, it's the first thing you learn when you begin. So in a way, it's like yoga, but the focus is on strength, breathing and movement. I've been doing private sessions but I will probably join a class after my next appointment. The hour feels like 20 minutes... it just flies by and I never want it to end!

My Happy Blog Birthday!

2012-01-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

cake topper from etsy

My blog is turning 5 today!!! So many years of writing, posting pictures, learning, trying a business... and so much more to do! Sometimes I wonder if I should continue Red Yarn, but then I can't imagine not having this meeting place where I connect with my friends and family. Life has definitely been changed by opening my world beyond the little town where I live! I hope you have a happy weekend and if there's cake, eat a piece for me! :)

beautiful little films

2012-01-12T09:38:00.001-05:00

:: Salutations for Squam*blog from Penelope Dullaghan on Vimeo.

:: Honey Harvest from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

:: The Oregon Coast from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

new obsession

2012-01-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's not a really new obsession, but we are addicted to HGTV lately! I think because it's winter. ☕ Now I just wish there were some snow❄❆❅! And I'm totally addicted to Masterpiece Theater's "Downton Abbey"♥♥♥! I have Caroline watching it with me. LOVE Love love it!

Which food lowers IQ 4 points?

2012-01-07T10:13:00.000-05:00

This article caught my eye, as Caroline is studying for her first round of High School midterms. The diet these doctors (husband and wife) suggest sounds a lot like the Weston A. Price Traditional diet recommendations. WAPF suggests soaking rice or grains for 24 hours before cooking to reduce phytic acid (they also don't eliminate legumes, but suggest sprouting or soaking for this reason) and slow-cooking meats on lower heat. This is long but worth the read!:

This Food Can Slow Your Brain - and it Lowered IQ 4 Points in Recent Study

Posted By Dr. Mercola | January 07 2012 | 55,057 views

Story at-a-glance

There are five different sources of evolutionary evidence pointing the way toward the optimal human diet. These form the basis for Dr. Jaminet’s eating plan, which includes the controversial hypothesis that zero- or extremely low-carb diets can lead to health challenges due to insufficient glucose consumption
Naturally-occurring toxins in food can have a significant health impact by disrupting bodily functions such as digestion. For example, a recent Japanese study showed that children who eat wheat every day score almost four points lower on IQ tests than those who eat rice. Cooked white rice is very low in toxins, while wheat contains a number of problematic compounds known to cause health issues
According to Dr. Jaminet, it is not common, but possible, to have a deficiency of dietary glucose that could have a detrimental effect on your immune system. About half of your proteins use glucose to work, and they require glucose as a functional element. Additionally, although low-carb diets normally improve blood lipids, extremely low-carb diets can paradoxically increase LDL and triglyceride levels.
Dr. Jaminet’s “Perfect Health Diet” recommends 20-30 percent of daily calories to be in the form of rice or potatoes, aka ‘safe starches;’ 15 percent animal protein, and 55-65 percent healthy fats

By Dr. Mercola

Dr. Paul Jaminet is a trained astrophysicist and author of the book, Perfect Health Diet.
He and his wife Shou-Ching, a Harvard biomedical scientist, have collaborated to create a refined Paleolithic diet approach that I believe can be quite valuable.
As is often the case with groundbreaking health findings, their joint search for an optimal diet was motivated by chronic health problems.
Dr. Jaminet experienced symptoms similar to those of multiple sclerosis, cognitive decline, neuropathic issues, and Rosacea.
These symptoms initially appeared around 1992, after being on a long course of antibiotics.
Meanwhile, his wife had endometriosis, fibroids, hypothyroidism, and other problems.
She ate a lot of soy, which appears to have been a major contributing factor.
"I think there are so many people who have developed health problems because of the bad advice they've gotten from government authorities and the medical establishment," Dr. Jaminet says.
"Fortunately, things are changing now. I think people are realizing that advice didn't work, and it didn't have evidence behind it really. People are learning that there are much better ways to eat out there. Hopefully, it will start turning the tide on these chronic disease epidemics that we're experiencing."
I couldn't agree more. And I'm very excited to see that parts of Dr. Jaminet's research also corroborates the work of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, whose GAPS Nutritional protocol is having a major impact on people's health.

To Determine the Perfect Diet, it would Take Thousands of Lifetimes to Read the Medical Literature

Dr. Jaminet has also hit on a crucial point as it relates to the detective work involved with identifying what an ideal diet might be, and that is the importance of establishing a big-picture framework that is as close to the truth as possible. Because without this framework, it can be near impossible to properly interpret individual scientific findings.
"PubMed, the database of journal articles, has over 22 million articles, and more than a million are added every year. Think about how much a person can read; I read at most two papers a day… I might read 500 papers a year. So with a million coming out and being only able to read 500, or maybe 1000, you can see only a tiny fraction of the literature. It's very easy to have a kind of selection bias; to get a small view of the literature, and have that lead you the wrong way.
Biology is complex. These journal articles are hard to interpret. There are usually many different ways to interpret any single paper. So, you really need a big, overarching view that's very close to the truth, and then you know how to interpret each paper.
What I found was, when I started from an evolutionary perspective, that led me very close to the truth. We actually have five different sources of evolutionary evidence, and they all point in the same direction about what the optimal human diet is! And then when you start from that perspective and interpret the papers in that light, it gets much easier to see a way to reconcile all of the different papers.
… Now when I look at how other people interpret the literature, I usually see they're very strongly influenced by their own field, their own specialty, and they usually don't take into account evidence from other specialties very much...Experts know a lot. But they also have a limited perspective and that can easily mislead them about diet."
I agree that one crucial factor ignored by so many "health authorities" is the big picture perspective—the evolutionary perspective of the human body and the food that fuels it. And this perspective is truly key, as it provides a solid starting point from which to assess everything. In order to figure out what we're doing wrong today, we need to evaluate how our modern diets deviate from the diets of our forefathers. The answer is not newer and better chemicals to substitute nutrients. The answer is going BACK to what we were designed to eat…
So Dr. Jaminet initially decided to try the Paleo diet as it had the strongest evolutionary support (see below) and could help significantly limit the literature review. But as he began to experience some negative effects over the first year, he came to the conclusion that the Paleo diet still had certain weaknesses and flaws, which he set out to solve.
"That's where I had a big advantage; that my wife works at Harvard," he says. "We have access to all the medical journals. I have access to her expertise. She also brings a wider perspective about diet coming from Asia… The more we learn about diet, the more we learn that traditional Asian diets [and traditional cuisines generally] are actually extremely healthy. That gave us confidence that we were on the right track."

Five Sources of Evolutionary Evidence Offer Compelling Clues to Optimal Diet

The Paleo diet is based on what our ancestors ate during the Paleolithic period. There were no supermarkets back then, so they hunted and gathered their food. This also tells us there was regional variability in people's diets, as they could only eat that which grew and was available in their respective climate.
"Eskimos (Inuit) would eat almost a pure animal food diet… People in the tropics would tend to eat more carbohydrates. But typically, the amount of carbohydrates eaten would… be about 15 percent to 20 percent. We know that from hunter-gatherer tribes that were contacted in the 1800s. We have some good data from that period on what hunter-gatherer diets looked like."
A second source of evidence is the composition of human breast milk, which we can assume must be, evolutionary speaking, a nutritionally ideal form of nourishment for human infants. And, while the nutritional needs of infants differ from adults, we can estimate how their nutrient needs differ, and adjust accordingly.
"One thing we see in infants is that they have very large brains relative to their body size. So they use a lot of glucose," Dr. Jaminet says. "Roughly 50 percent of the calories that they use are glucose. Breast milk is about 40 percent carbs. So, the amount of carbs in the diet is just slightly below the amount that the infant will actually use.
If you translate that to adults, adults use about 30 percent of their calories as glucose. We would predict, based on the composition of breast milk, that maybe the optimal amount of carbs for an adult would be just below 30 percent, so maybe 20 percent to 30 percent. That's another example."
Third, we can look at diets of other mammals.
"[T]they bracket the optimal human diet, because animals are biologically similar to us but have smaller brains. So, just like infants are like adults, but have bigger brains [relative to body size], animals have smaller brains [overall], and most animals, when you look at the nutrition… is very low carb; often five or 10 percent carb.
People think animals eat very different diets because there are herbivores, carnivores, omnivores. They do eat different food, but the food gets transformed in their gut and in their liver. The thing that changes evolutionarily in different animals is not the body and its nutrient needs – it's the nature of the gut and the liver. So, herbivores will often have gut organs (like ruminants) that transform carbohydrates into fats and volatile acids. A cow for instance gets almost no carbs in its diet. All the carbs are eaten by bacteria, and the bacteria release short-chain fats…
When you look at these animals, that gives us more evidence about what the optimal diet should look like. That, again, leads us (when we correct for brain size) toward more of a 20 percent carb diet for adult humans."
Fourth, the evolutionary evidence includes the inherent ability to survive a long fast or famine during times of scarcity. The human body was designed to be able to effectively hunt or gather food even if you hadn't eaten for awhile. This means the human body must be able to "cannibalize" itself.
"You have to live on a composition of the human body effectively. The optimal human diet can't be that far away from the nutrient composition of the human body by itself," Dr. Jaminet explains.
Last but not least, the fifth source of evolutionary evidence is the food reward system of the human brain.
"We like certain kinds of foods. We like to get a certain amount of protein each day. We like to get a certain amount of salt each day. Certain things taste good, certain things taste very bad. Those taste preferences and food preferences evolved in order to guide us to eating a healthy diet. We can infer from these innate preferences of the brain what a healthy diet is," Dr. Jaminet says. "Those five sources of evidence are pretty much what we used to try to get a first thought of what the optimal diet is. And then once we had that starting point, then we went for the literature to look for evidence and drilled down to the level of individual nutrients and toxins to try and figure out how to implement that in terms of food and how to really optimize everything."

An Optimal Diet Also Needs to Limit Food Toxins

Another important aspect is the element of toxins—not just man-made toxins and toxic contaminants, but the naturally-occurring toxins found in various foods. For example, unfermented soy is notorious for its toxic potential.
"One of the strengths of the Paleo diet is that it's very low in toxicity," Dr. Jaminet says. "That happens for several reasons. One is that the foods it generally recommends are low in toxicity.
One of my favorite papers was a finding that if you eat one gram of wheat bran, then the weight of your feces will go up by over 5 grams. What that is telling us is that there are bioactive proteins in wheat that sabotage digestive function. So, they not only prevent the wheat bran from getting digested, but also other things that you eat along with it. That's why the feces weight goes up so much.
The trouble is that, if they can disrupt a bodily function like digestion, they can also disrupt other functions. These toxins can actually have a large health impact. There is growing evidence that the impact is very substantial.
[Another] really interesting study came out of Japan this summer. Children in Japan who eat wheat every day… are almost four IQ points lower than children who eat rice. The nice thing about rice (it's the only grain that we recommend in our diet) is that the toxins are destroyed in cooking. Cooked white rice is very low in toxins. That gives us a measure of how much wheat may be impacting health. That's interesting, because the IQ difference between Asians and Americans is about four points. It could be just the difference between eating wheat and rice."
Dr. Jaminet explains that rice, which is a starch, is comprised of long chains of glucose, and has virtually no fructose, which is good. Ideally, you'll want to avoid as much fructose as possible—especially in the form of high fructose corn syrup, found in virtually all processed foods and beverages. When consumed in excessive amounts, fructose becomes quite toxic, and excessive fructose consumption is a major driving force behind our skyrocketing obesity- and chronic disease rates.
"Get your fructose only from fruits, berries, and vegetables," Dr. Jaminet says. "There are some sugary vegetables that are good, like squashes, carrots, onions, and beets. In general, fruits and berries are good. Those will give you some fructose, but they don't have huge amounts."

Dr. Jaminet's Take on "Glucose Deficiency" and Extreme Low-Carb Diets

When Dr. Jaminet initially embarked on the Paleo diet in an effort to resolve his health problems, he adhered to an extremely low-carb diet, where he tried to get all his carbs from vegetables.
"I ate probably two or three pounds of vegetables a day," he says, "but what I didn't realize was that vegetables are not a very good source of glucose. And your body does need some glucose. A typical vegetable has maybe 80 calories per pound of carbs. They are half-glucose, half-fructose. Your digestive tract will consume maybe 40 calories of glucose per pound digesting it. You'll absorb maybe 40 calories of glucose from the vegetables. But then, as you digest the plant matter, your body will burn those calories in the process of digestion, and so you won't get any net glucose contribution to your body.
The fructose can be converted to glucose, but often we don't absorb fructose very well. It can also be intercepted by gut bacteria and they use it. That makes them more active, and our immune system have to use some glucose to fight them. So really, vegetables make a very limited contribution to the body's glucose balance."
Dr. Jaminet asserts that a lack of dietary glucose could have a detrimental effect on your immune activity, because your immune system utilizes glucose to kill pathogens. With the help of his wife, Dr. Jaminet began calculating the estimated "ideal" amount of carbs a human being might need, based on the evolutionary evidence.
"It became clear that I was just eating too few carbohydrates," "[M]ucus, tears, and saliva all need sugars. The key components in mucus are made of glucose bonded to protein. They are about 80 percent glucose, 20 percent protein. If you don't have enough glucose, you won't make a lot of mucus and you'll get dry eyes. That makes you vulnerable to infections. Also not having much glucose for the immune system makes you vulnerable to infections.
I had certain chronic infections flare up while I was on very low-carb Paleo. I didn't want to believe that we needed carbs, but gradually I learned that we did. And I found that when I added more carbs, it would get better; when I took them out, it would get worse. Some of the symptoms were very clear, like the dry eyes. I gradually started to understand the reasons for that – how glucose works, the many things it's used for in the body, and how much we needed."

Glucose—What's it Good for?

This is certainly controversial, as evidenced by the lively internet debate between Dr. Jaminet and Dr. Rosedale that recently erupted, which I covered in two previous articles (collectively, their back-and-forth conversation now consists of well over 100 pages of detailed information). Both certainly supply compelling evidence for their individual approaches.
Dr. Rosedale's approach is that you can't have too little glucose because it's always going to cause some adverse metabolic consequence. It's just a matter of degree. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dr. Rosedale, who has been one of my mentors in helping me fully appreciate the importance of insulin and leptin over 15 years ago, and his approach is not only based on years of research but also the successful treatment of patients suffering with chronic health problems.
Dr. Jaminet, on the other hand, believes that once you get below a certain threshold of glucose in your diet, you can start experiencing certain health challenges.
His perspective has slowly won me over, simply because I have personally experienced some of the health challenges he brings up as being linked to glucose deficiency. I noticed that when I restricted my carbs to vegetables only (cutting out all grains and non-fiber starches), it paradoxically raised my triglycerides. I would also get extremely fatigued when working out, and it worsened my kidney function, too. So, I believe I've proved to myself you can go too low on glucose.
"People need to realize that glucose has a lot of functions in the body," Dr. Jaminet says. "People think of macronutrients as things you burn for energy, but really that's not their primary function… [W]e're meant to survive famines by cannibalizing our own bodies. Really, what your food should do is nourish and build up your body. And then as your cells need energy, they can cannibalize themselves.
… [T]hink of your body as modular elements, [and] that your food should be used to build up your body, construct your body, and then your body should cannibalize itself in order to get energy. Food shouldn't be considered a source of energy. It should be considered a source of building up your body.
Calorie-wise, fat is almost half of the macronutrients of most cells by weight, but it's more than them in calories because it's calorie-dense. That's why it's good to eat a high-fat diet. You get the majority of calories from fat and less from carbs. But carbs are still an important structural element of the body.
Over half the proteins in your body need to be bonded with sugars in order to function. Almost all of the proteins that are in the membranes of cells are glycosylated. They are bonded with carbohydrate. This is essential. The proteins get joined to these sugars in these parts of the cell near the nucleus, called the endoplasmic reticulum and golgi bodies. If they are not properly bonded (with the glucose) they'll be tagged for destruction and destroyed. So really, our proteins are protein-carbohydrate compounds. They are not pure protein."

On the Glycosylation or Glycation of Proteins—is it Good or Bad?

This is an important concept that bears delving into a bit further. Most physicians are taught that any glucose attaching to proteins is harmful, because the parameter we use clinically to monitor diabetes is hemoglobin A1C. Typically, the lower, the better. The higher you are, the worse your glucose control is. This harmful bonding of glucose to protein is usually called "glycation" while the beneficial, physiological bonding is "glycosylation".

According to Dr. Jaminet:
"You can extrapolate from diabetes, which is a disease where people have too much glucose and are being poisoned by it back to normal physiological ranges. The point about glycated hemoglobin—there is actually a mortality minimum around hemoglobin A1c level of about 5.0. So if you go below that – if you're hypoglycemic – then mortality rises fairly rapidly.
Like a lot of things in health, there is an optimum, and you can have too little or too much. So, if diabetics have too much [blood glucose] – and it's very good for them to lower their blood glucose, preferably by natural dietary methods, not drugs – it's also possible to get too low. Some of the health problems that diabetics have can also arise from hypoglycemia (abnormally low blood sugar)."
Balance, clearly, is key. According to Dr. Jaminet, you may be able to tolerate an extremely low-carb diet if your health is really good, because your body can manufacture some glucose from protein. Others may not fare as well.
"The biggest problem is it's not a robust diet. If you get infections (which will raise your body's glucose needs), then you can really get into trouble on a zero carb diet. In general, it's a stressful thing for your body," Dr. Jaminet says.

Why Do Extreme Low-Carb Diets Backfire for Some People?

Dr. Jaminet believes that a large part of the confusion about this topic is related to the fact that most of the data in the medical literature relates to high carb diets, and how high carb diets cause high lipoproteins. Generally speaking, if you're on a high-carb diet and suddenly reduce your carb intake, your blood cholesterol profile will improve. Typically, triglyceride levels will be sharply reduced.
"But then as you start going below 25 percent carbs or so, then your body has to adapt to a scarcity of glucose. It does that with some hormonal changes that can also impact blood lipids," Dr. Jaminet explains.
"So, for instance, when you're eating very low-carb, one thing your body does to conserve glucose and protein is lower the level of T3 and thyroid hormones. So, that reduces glucose utilization by cells. That's good. It's conserving the glucose so that it can be used for the most important functions, but now you have lower thyroid hormone levels. Thyroid hormone also activates the fat metabolism. It activates LDL receptors, and some other things.
It's possible, if you're eating too low-carb, to get elevations of blood lipids. I have to say this is an issue we're still exploring. We did a lot of work on my blog this year trying to track down why some low-carb dieters have high blood lipids. Usually it's either a thyroid hormone response to too little glucose in the diet, or various micronutrient deficiencies. Copper deficiency is a common one – selenium, magnesium can affect it.
It's important to be well-nourished. If people eat very low carb and let themselves get malnourished, then they are very likely to have some kind of problems with their lipid profile."

So, What's the Ideal Amount of (Safe) Carbs?

Dr. Jaminet believes that as a general guideline, most people probably need about 20 to 30 percent of their daily calories from carbs in the form of rice or potatoes, which he classifies as 'safe starches.' Many who experience symptoms of 'glucose deficiency' will improve when they get at least 200 of their daily calories (or 10 percent of your daily calories) from these carbs.
But other factors also need to be taken into account, such as your omega-3 and omega-6 ratios.
"It's really important to be low in omega-6 fats," Dr. Jaminet says. "When you're eating low-carb, you're necessarily eating a high-fat diet, and the quality of your fats becomes very important. It's very important to keep down the level of omega-6 fats, because the polyunsaturated fats in general become toxic if you get too much. That's where you really have to avoid all these vegetable oils, because they can be very high in omega-6. Things like corn oil, safflower oil, soy bean oil – even canola oil – just have too much polyunsaturated fat."
Sources of healthy fats include:

Olives and Olive oil	Coconuts and coconut oil	Butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk
Raw nuts, such as, almonds or pecans	Organic pastured egg yolks	Avocados
Fats from naturally fed animals (eg grass-fed beef)	Palm oil	Unheated organic nut oils

The Importance of Healthy Gut Flora

Beneficial gut bacteria, aka probiotics, are excellent detoxifiers, and fermented foods are natural powerhouses when it comes to foods that promote these vital bacteria.
"In general, fermented plant foods are more nourishing and less toxic than unfermented plant foods," Dr. Jaminet explains, echoing the claims of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, whose GAPS diet heavily features fermented foods as well.
Dr. Jaminet, like Dr. McBride, highly recommends fermented vegetables and cultured foods to optimize your health. He also concurs with Dr. McBride's claims that fiber can actually worsen your health IF you have unbalanced gut flora. Few would probably ever consider this possibility, but it makes perfect sense because fiber (including fiber-rich vegetables) is a non-specific promoter of colonic bacteria. So if you have a lot of pathogenic bacteria in your gut, high-fiber consumption is going to promote these pathogens and drive your health in the wrong direction.
The answer, or course, is to heal your intestines and optimize your gut flora. This is such an essential foundation of good health that I've teamed up with Dr. McBride to bring you an in-depth series of informational videos on this topic. Dr. McBride treats a lot of people with mental health issues, and healing their gut is imperative in order to improve their mental conditions. Interestingly, Dr. Jaminet has had the same experience:
"I'm going to do a blog post soon on a case study of this woman who has bipolar disorder. As long as she doesn't eat any plant foods at all, then she has no symptoms. If she really starves her gut bacteria, then her bipolar disorder basically disappears. There is a lot of evidence that many of these diseases that are so difficult to treat may be attributable to bad gut bacteria – effectively an infection of the digestive tract."

Summary of Dr. Jaminet's Perfect Health Diet

In terms of macronutrients, Dr. Jaminet recommends:
20-30 percent of daily calories: carbs, mainly from "safe starches" such as rice or potatoes, partly from fruits, berries, and vegetables
15 percent of daily calories: animal protein (or about 200-600 calories a day)
55-65 percent: healthy fats, especially low-omega-6 fats such as beef tallow, butter, fish oil, coconut oil, palm oil, and olive oil
Fats are ideally combined with acids like lemon juice or vinegar, or fermented vegetables. Dr. Jaminet also recommends making homemade bone broth and soups your staples. Keep in mind that as you decrease your carb consumption, you need to replace them with healthy fats. Replacing carbs with too much protein can actually cause health challenges similar to eating too many grain carbs and sugars. Dr. Jaminet also recommends taking a multi-mineral supplement, as it can be quite difficult for many to get enough minerals through their diet.
Your body metabolizes protein by converting it into glucose, which releases toxic ammonia that is further converted into nitrogen. The ammonia can also be converted into urea and uric acid. Unfortunately, your body's ability to make urea, which is the safe way to dispose of excess ammonia, is limited. According to Dr. Jaminet, when you eat more than about 600 calories of protein a day, you'll start to build up ammonia in your body, which has toxic effects.
The amino acid glutamine can be digested by gut bacteria, and that can create gut dysbiosis if you eat way too much protein for too long.
"Breast milk is only seven percent protein. That's a pretty good clue," Dr. Jaminet says."If you feed young children too much protein, then they'll tend to have health problems later on. They are more likely to become obese or have some other issues. During pregnancy, you don't want too much protein either."

More Information

For more information, I highly recommend Dr. Jaminet's book, Perfect Health Diet. You can also find lots of information on his blog, www.PerfectHealthDiet.com, where he posts weekly recipes, along with food- and science articles.

tatsuro eye candy

2012-01-05T11:32:00.002-05:00

by Tatsuro Kiuchi

Great illustrations! (Starbucks thinks so too!) I love this one especially... it has me wishing for snow! (Was our freak snowfall in October it?) Maine is getting snow right now... so jealous. These illustrations remind me of relief printmaking. I can smell the inks!!mmm. Enjoy!

{videos here}

First post for 2012

2012-01-01T17:03:00.001-05:00

Will someone pay me to read blogs??? ;)

Happy New Year!!! Here's to the best year we've had yet! And if this is it, then let's do it big!!!

2012

2011-12-29T12:05:00.003-05:00

As we get ready to start 2012, it is time when most people think about what they want to accomplish in the next year and sometimes write resolutions. Well, my resolution list for 2011 was one I didn't pay much attention to. It listed dreams and wants, but it wasn't too specific when it came down to actually making them happen. I wasn't "resolute" enough! Some things were beyond my doing anyways, so I'm not getting too down on myself about that. And some things happen that you just don't expect.

Instead of doing a long list of resolutions, I think maybe it's better to focus on different categories of what we're doing right now and do them a little better:

Money: This seems to be a big one for everyone this year, especially as the recession is occurring all over the world. Financial expert David Bach has some really good checkpoints to meet:

1) PAY YOURSELF FIRST
According to a new Fidelity Research Report, the number one goal of American's is to double their savings in 2012. What I want you to do is take out your 401k statement and either increase the dollar amount or increase the percentage of your contribution. If you just change it by 1% this year, you will make a positive impact on your financial life and savings. Making this increase to your savings is the single easiest thing you can do right off the bat for 2012.

2) MAKE YOUR FINANCES "AUTOMATIC"
2012 is the time to use technology to your advantage when it comes to your finances. The best part about automating your financial life is that it can be done in less than an hour and it will save you time and money for years to come! You need to start by making sure your paycheck is directly deposited into your checking account. Then by using online banking and bill pay, you will distribute your money automatically into the following key accounts:

Retirement Savings
Emergency Savings
College Savings
Dream Account (i.e. vacations, holidays savings)
Mortgage Payment
Credit Card Bills (minimum payment, so you will never miss a payment again)
Recurring Bills (utilities, phone, cable, etc.)

Click HERE to watch my NBC's TODAY show segment and to get more information on your 2012 Financial Action Plan.

3) GET A WILL
It is reported that over 50% of Americans do not have a will. The reality is, everyone needs a will, even if you are not married or don't have kids. Think of the family and friends you will want to receive your life's work. Many people do not realize that making a will can actually be quick and relatively cheap. You can create a will yourself for as little as $50 using a program such as Quicken WillMaker or you can hire an attorney to help you.

Critical things that you will need in your will are:

Health care directive
Financial power of attorney
Executor documents
Final arrangements

4) TRACK WHERE THE MONEY GOES "AKA FIND YOUR LATTE FACTOR®"
The best way to improve your financial life that I know of, other than paying yourself first, is to track where your money is actually going. I would use a site like Mint.com, or Yodlee Money Center. They have the best programs online to track your expenses and they use the same encryption system the banks do, so your information will be safe. If you don't want your expenses tracked online then you can go get an old school "budget tracker" workbook and keep track of where your money goes each month. Then review your finances to see where you are either overspending or wasting money and then stop that specific spending!

5) CLEAN IT OUT AND SELL IT
January is a great time of the year to clean out everything in your house that you don't need and then sell it or give it away--especially if you have a storage facility. If you are paying to store things you don't really use and realistically will probably never use, now is the time to get rid of everything! Doing this one act could save you over $1,000 a year. What you can do to help yourself is to look up companies in your area that will come photograph and sell your unwanted items for you, saving you time and making you money.

I would like to say, that this is my personal, number one New Year's resolution to help me save in 2012. In fact, you can mark my words that I will get rid of my storage facility this year!

6) GIVE SOMETHING UP
One of the fastest ways to cut your expenses in 2012 is to pick ONE thing and give it up. We all hate to do it at first, but once we make the change we usually find out it's not the end of the world and can be completely worth the savings. For example, you can give up a car. For many families this can cut expenses by $5,000 to $10,000 a year! If you don't think you can give up your car, really think about what you could give up. What are you paying for each year that you truly could try and live without? Is it your storage facility? Is it premium cable? Is it a cell phone? Is it a second home? A vacation you ALWAYS take? Sometimes just deciding to give up "one thing" can completely change your financial life. Then these savings could be used to pay down your debt, save for retirement, emergency purposes, college etc...

What I want you to remember is that you don't need to have a doctorate in mathematics to get these things done; you just need the motivation to make a positive financial change in your life. Trust me--it will be worth it! To connect with like-minded people and get support on your journey to live and finish rich join my community on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Suze Orman also has some good tools on her website. She suggests a living trust instead of just a will. If it's not too complicated, there are online will sites that you can use and finish it in a weekend. The best piece of money advice we ever got was to make the paycheck direct deposit and automatically move money to savings before you even see it hitting the checking account. The beginning of the year is also a time to evaluate "what is a want and what is a need". I used to teach Junior Achievement to first graders and we talked about this concept. Funny how even adults get these two things mixed up!

Health: If you haven't taken this seriously, then now is the time. Malnutrition is probably the number one reason people get sick! Waiting until a diagnosis of cancer or an autoimmune disease is not the time to take your health and diet more seriously. Doctors are trained to treat the symptoms. Let's give them a little less work to do by avoiding the causes!
-- Stop drinking soda pop this year. That has reversed so many people's health and weight... I can't even tell you the profound difference it makes. That includes diet soda. (Artificial sweeteners - aspartame, Equal, Sweet n' Low... all those are so bad!!!)
-- Pay attention to the sugar you consume in everything! Look at ingredient lists. If you're craving, it may be out of balance flora in your intestines. Yeast will crave more sugar for food. Yeast imbalances in the intestine are very strong. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine! Willpower can not fight something gone wrong in your intestinal probiotic health.
-- Give up all the bad fats that do cause illness: vegetable oil, canola oil (read it's bad history here) ... both of which have too high of omega 6 in them, margarine, transfats.
-- Start eating the good fats!: Butter (organic), coconut oil (cold-pressed, organic), ev olive oil, nut oils in small amounts (not for heating and kept refrigerated), lard from free-range pigs (Watch your dry skin, dry hair, feeling cold, depression, low vitamin D levels, weight gain, and bland cooking... all go away!)
-- Try Raw Milk... you might think you can't digest milk anymore but it may be because you're drinking fake (homogenized) milk. If you're drinking skim milk, then there's no health benefit, only calories... you need the fat in the dairy to help absorb the vitamin D and calcium. And if it's been pasteurized, you can bet that they are adding synthetic vitamins back into the milk and you're not getting the real stuff. Whole milk has only 4% fat in it, so get over yourself and drink some real milk. By the way, it's totally safe.
-- Find a CSA in your area and consider joining. Or grow a little garden! Good fresh vegetables can't be beat!
-- Discover the huge health benefits of lacto-fermented vegetables and drinks. Forget the probiotic claims of sugar-filled store yogurts (they are dead by the time they get to the store shelf). Get real probiotics from real fermented food.
-- Stop drinking flouride! It's a poison (check out your warning on the tube of toothpaste!). Invest in a water filter.
-- It's time to recognize unfermented soy as a danger! It is one of the biggest healthfood scams. Don't believe me? Read the link above and also pay attention to the fact that soy plants are listed among the governments list of poisonous plants. Man boobs... enough said.
-- Find some form of exercise and movement that you enjoy... it doesn't mean hanging out at sweaty gyms (unless that's your thing!). I am loving Pilates right now and taking walks with my dog. I was loving Yoga and tennis before that. And before that, heavy weights. And before that, Tracey Anderson's work out. And before that Calinetics. See? It doesn't matter what... just do something! Your muscles don't age... you just lose them. The best thing you can do if you don't have any time: do a Pilates workout to strengthen your core. That means no back problems and believe me, that's worth it! Now to start planning more kayaking in Maine! ;)

Faith: This one covers so many different things. For me, it's spending more time learning about my own Faith from people who've come before me and from spending time being quiet and listening to God. Faith is determined by all of your experiences you've had so far. Some may not have any faith and some may find that it's always there. I've tried hard not to be judgmental of others' faith journeys. If you're focusing on someone else's faith, then you're not focusing enough on your own weaknesses. Finding simplicity in life seems to bring me closer. Realizing that happiness doesn't come from acquiring anything or from relying on other people to give it to me, but from a feeling of having control over my own decisions and from meaningful relationships and trust. I put that money thing first because I think worrying about money keeps me from being generous and I've actually learned to stop worrying about it. I feel in some ways we've been a lot more generous as a family this year... in lots of different ways and outlets. We also don't participate in as many things as some families do nor constantly seek entertainment that costs money. I love going to the library for books because I'm learning and increasing my mind for free! And I donate a ton of books back to them. It's a win-win! My biggest struggle is that I don't believe most people are good. I think most people are greedy. So the friends I invest time in are people who I see something different in-- creativity, thoughtfulness, a giving spirit, ethics, joy. Lots of good things! I'm trying to raise my own children to recognize this, though it is harder than it seems.

Creativity: When we are making something, whether it be art, craft, cooking, music, writing... ... we are being real. There is an anticipation and a fulfillment of good work that comes through making things. I feel that's important. When we're not creating, it is a stifled stale feeling and sometimes the opposite happens-- destruction. Only observing life or expecting everything to be made for you, robs you of the joy that comes from creating. Carving out time in a week to create is one of the best things I can think of to remedy a boring existence. Being surrounded by your own creations and those by people you love, is probably the closest thing to a perfect life that I can think of! I'd rather listen to my family playing guitar over any cd or professional. (Though I love those too!)

Dreams: I don't underestimate the power of dreaming about something. When I feel like there's nothing to look forward to, then the routines of life seem more mundane. Little dreams... big dreams. One of my dreams is to visit France. This might not be accomplished for a little while, but I have this dream and it will come to fruition if I hold onto it and give it importance in my plans for my future. If I don't, then the least I have gained is the excitement of the dream itself. There are other dreams too... they just keep me moving forward and not just focusing on the now and the past.

So... I am not writing out New Year's Resolutions but am adhering to what I think is important. I will learn things along the way and discover new things. I might not accomplish what I set out to do but I'm sure the setting out will accomplish something. Most of all, I just seek joy and peace. I'm leaving worrying behind and only keeping the idea of being prepared and planning from that. We just can't anticipate what will happen, but we can help avoid things that keep us from our dreams and our joy in life. That way, when something bad happens, we can grasp the good things and know that it always gets better somehow.

saying goodbye to 2011

2011-12-27T10:21:00.002-05:00

Christmas at our house...

2011-12-26T18:26:00.005-05:00

Yes, we had an interesting Christmas!!! :) It was a good one. Caroline's doctor says her tests were negative for Mono. We're waiting on allergy test results. I think she may just have a sinus infection so she's resting a lot this week. Maybe she's turning into a polar bear? And Nathaniel is definitely growing into a young man! Ha! I made my turkey and it turned out perfectly (thank goodness!). We had leftovers tonight. I got a couple movies for presents so I think I may just kick back and watch one. I caught Masterpiece Theater last evening and loved it... wish I had seen the first two of four shows! (Last one is airing next Sunday evening.) Hope your holidays were good too!
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Jess was right: "Downton Abbey" is the show! We watched "Once" tonight... still love that movie and I just ordered the soundtrack. I don't know what took me so long to do that as the music is so wonderful!

Sophie Digard

2011-12-22T09:11:00.003-05:00

French designer Sophie Digard's fiber works make me swoon! They are gorgeous textural pieces of art. I happened upon them while looking at Selvedge's website and you have to see the variety of pattern, weave and colors that they show! And, when I saw on someone's blog that she was the one who designed the sweater from the movie "Bright Star", which I was trying to recreate, I fully am in awe of her talents! No, that sweater has not been finished. It takes forever to make the tiny lace weight circles. In fact, I need to do better on New Years Resolutions because I noticed that there may not have been one of them that I actually accomplished this year! I'll try to do better this coming year.

We wish you...

2011-12-21T20:55:00.001-05:00

a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!!!

On the eve of the first day of winter, we are counting down until St. Nick comes and we celebrate the birth of Jesus. I love this time of year. Cookie baking tomorrow! Nathaniel's been singing "The Hanukah Song" (thanks Adam Sandler for making a song we can't get out of our heads!!). And the presents are all wrapped, except for Elle's because I still have to get one for her. Turkey starts thawing tomorrow. Yep-- I think that's it! We had an interesting trip to the doctor yesterday because Caroline has had swollen glands for a little while. They sent her for a large battery of blood tests, she fainted, and I put her to bed for the rest of the day! So, we'll wait to see what's up (hopefully not Mono!).

Hope you're almost ready and looking forward to the holiday break too! Start watching for Santa's sleigh!

The importance of Adversity

2011-12-20T16:58:00.002-05:00

"How can I be joyful when I live in the midst of so much suffering and death? Because I've learned that suffering is a lot better than indifference. You grieve if you've felt joy. If you're mourning someone's death, it's because you loved someone. If you're mourning the loss of health it means you've had health. Whenever you grieve, it's because for a time you have had something precious, and that is something worth celebrating."

~ Karin Hilfiker, age 17, The Self Esteem Trap by Polly Young-Eisendrath, PhD

free Pilates workout

2011-12-20T14:30:00.001-05:00

If you want to feel stronger in one week, just do the exercises in this quick video during the week between Christmas and New Years! You'll start the year with a stronger core and feel great!

Ready for more? : Tone Arms Butt and Thighs Slim Legs

Ezra Jack Keats Show in NYC

2011-12-19T21:29:00.002-05:00

from The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

If you're lucky enough to be in NYC now until January 29th, the Jewish Museum on 5th Ave. at 92nd St. is showing an exhibit of Ezra Jack Keats' work. You probably grew up with his books like I did and they are definitely classics. By the end of his life in 1983, he had illustrated over 80 books. The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, Peter's Chair -- all beautifully done in bold color and collage, were the first children's books to feature an African American protagonist and changed children's literature. I wish I could see it!

calling all owl lovers

2011-12-19T20:58:00.003-05:00

Owl by Christine Pym

My Owl Barn has put together another "print your own" calendar of different illustrators' owls. You can print out your favorite prints with whatever month you choose to pair it. And it's free! I love Christine's and Chan Yee Von's illos so I have to at least print these out!

prayers for the Philippines

2011-12-19T17:26:00.001-05:00

Manila, Philippines by birdAve on etsy

Our prayers go out today to all those who have lost loved ones and are lost by the storm that hit the Philippine islands. I was so worried when I read the headline about it in the paper today because the little girl who Craig and I sponsor lives in Quezon, right outside of Manila. It looks as if the storm hit the southern part of the country near Iligan and Cagayan de Oro and the death toll is past 900 right now. We hope to hear if she and her family are okay.

Christmas scented salt dough ornaments on Fig and Fauna

2011-12-19T09:13:00.001-05:00

We always made salt dough ornaments with the kids in preschool classes and even on my first Christmas tree when I was single and Craig drove a tiny little fresh tree 2 hours to Cincinnati from Columbus for my little apartment! Anyways, I never thought of making impressions into the dough and these are just beautiful! And I never made scented ones either. Click here for instructions! I think my Mom made these with us when we were little too. Have fun.

6 more days until Christmas...

2011-12-19T08:41:00.002-05:00

This little felt Dala came to our house from across the pond! His origins are Scotland where a very talented elf lives! We love him! Thank You Di!!!

And I finally finished the Christmas cards. They are going out to the post office this morning!

local flash mob and a big birthday!

2011-12-18T08:51:00.000-05:00

I missed it! The paper reported that yesterday in Central Market, where I am every Friday morning, there was a flash mob singing "The Halleluiah Chorus"! It was a very busy Saturday so they didn't have room to dance around but I'm sure it was fun to see it!

We were having our own fun here as we surprised Caroline on her 15th birthday by inviting her Pappy and Nana to celebrate with us! I made a brunch and then we went to see the second "Sherlock Holmes" because that's one of Caroline's favorite movies (and she has a crush on Jude Law). We also celebrated my father-in-law's birthday too, which is on Christmas Day. It was a really fun day!

Marv & Caroline

Eating Brunch

Homemade GF Cinnamon rolls (Caroline's fav), sausage and potato casserole, and fresh fruit salad

Elle sings "Happy Birthday"!

OH, and if all that wasn't great enough, it even snowed a little last night... perfect for my little elf!

getting you in the holiday spirit...

2011-12-15T10:15:00.001-05:00

I love Flash Mobs! Enjoy...

Kale and Navy Bean Soup

2011-12-14T19:22:00.001-05:00

For a wonderful (and very easy) recipe for this soup, go here! I used some of my chicken broth that I made after roasting my chicken on Sunday. I soaked the beans in just water (for two days!) and made it this afternoon before I took Caroline to her outdoor riding lesson. I knew we'd be cold when we came back so this was waiting to be reheated. I made a couple chicken breasts on the side, twice baked potatoes (leftover from Monday nights meal... just pop in the oven while doing everything else at 350 degrees F until tinged with brown.) And served up some chunky bread for the soup. My soup had larger pieces of Kale in it and I just chopped the carrots into slices (that's how I like it). Caroline said it was really good... so there's a picky teenager's review for you!

She's busy preparing her Scholastic Writing Contest submission. I'm so excited! I've been hoping she would have a teacher who would participate in it. I always submitted work as a student to the Scholastic Arts Contest. I love to see the exhibits. I know it's pretty subjective judging but it's great that Caroline will be able to have her work read by others. Speaking of writing... I need to finish my Christmas letter!

snowmen

2011-12-14T13:29:00.002-05:00

by aya

I want to make a little snowperson for Caroline... she will think these are soooo cute! ;)

feeling a little batty?

2011-12-14T13:26:00.001-05:00

This video will make you all warm inside. I was just saying that I hope we don't lose any bats around our house because they are great at keeping the mosquito population down in the summertime.

Be careful what you ask for!

2011-12-13T17:09:00.003-05:00

After much nagging from his wife, my neighbor finally put the Christmas lights up...

This silly thing was going around via email and it made me (and a lot of family members) chuckle! Christmas is not time to nag or stress out or worry... please just pause and take a breath! That way things like above don't happen at your house! ;)

Happy St. Lucia Day

2011-12-13T16:43:00.001-05:00

from Faith & Family

We almost forgot that it was Dec. 13th! Caroline is slacking in her duties as the oldest (and only) girl. There were no cinnamon rolls brought to us or singing... we'll have to do better next year! Actually, I'm going to try to bake some gluten free cinnamon rolls for Saturday which is Caroline's 15th birthday! She and Nathaniel have taken to wearing Santa hats around the house this week. Even though I still have things to do to get ready, I'm enjoying it and haven't felt stressed out at all. Which goes to show, it's all in the attitude and what I let unsettle me. Peace & Joy... that's what I'm focusing on! :)

let the fermentation begin!...

2011-12-11T16:34:00.005-05:00

Finally I used some of that whey I made the other day to create my first batch of sauerkraut! You actually do not need whey to make sauerkraut but I'm trying this method because it increases the speed of fermentation meaning that we can eat it sooner! In only 3-7 days it should be ready to eat. But I can leave it for up to 6 months, and supposedly, the longer the better. I think I might add a little more liquid to the top of this one. It needs about an inch of headroom to expand because of the fermenting (it's like soda pop!). That's one smaller head of green cabbage and it looks so Christmas-y! Cabbage has a lot of vitamin C in it, plus after being fermented into sauerkraut, it will provide lots of good probiotics to ward off any bad bugs that might be circulating from school or work. I'll let you know how it comes out!

I also have a chicken slow roasting (that seems to be a Sunday tradition now) and when dinner is done, I'm going to take the carcass and put it into my small crockpot to make a perpetual bone broth or soup. If you want the recipe for that, I can forward the email from Nourished Kitchen. That is a great newsletter to sign up to receive! Broth is also one of those healthy, warming staples in winter which combats the flu and colds and just keeps your insides healthy and warm.

Lastly, I freakily sprained my right hand yesterday so I'm having trouble just writing. I was planning to do a little drawing for my Christmas letter but we'll see what happens! It just figures. Hope all is well with you!

a dream present

2011-12-09T14:05:00.003-05:00

This is one of those days that it seems everything is converging into one idea... one wish. I took Elle for a walk over by Landis Valley Farm Museum and was watching the sheep and horses graze in the field and the ducks and geese splashing in the pond. Ah, to have a little farmette and be close to the land. I come home to my computer where I had the Maine real estate section pulled up, because that just makes me happy to browse through. I was dreaming of owning a salt water farm... that's a farm by the ocean. Of course the universe would have to answer that one with some huge gesture considering the cost of that much land by the ocean. Then, I look at my emails and there's one from Anthology magazine (which I think just went to only online) and it had articles about gift ideas. There inside it's pages was cooking lessons at... the salt water farm in Lincolnville, Maine! Not only cooking lessons, but traditional food cooking lessons! { http://www.saltwaterfarm.com/ } So, of course I emailed Craig and told him I'd found my perfect future Christmas present. Maybe someday I could work there (?).

If that isn't enough serendipity for one day, I went to the library to pick up a parenting book on hold, and was browsing the cookbooks just for fun, and I found Taste of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak. I flipped through it because I love trying different types of salads ( like the one I made two days ago: Quinoa and Apple Salad with Curry Dressing) and it seemed to have a good selection. And then I saw that it has traditional recipes for fermenting! Perfect! It really is amazing how much we've forgotten how to cook and prepare food in traditional ways and how much different cultures are actually quite similar in their traditions.

So, that's what's happened so far in my day of converging and simultaneous discoveries! Anything good happen to you today? :)

Is that a collie with Annmarie???

cookie boxes from Martha

2011-12-09T08:27:00.001-05:00

Occasionally something comes across from Martha Stewart crafts that I think is especially cute and her little town house cookie boxes are one of those! It's fashioned as a little German house and since my own Grandma (Oma) was from Nuremburg, Germany, I just might have to make at least one myself.

I am here to report that I finished my Christmas cards. Though I am going to write a letter this year to include (I haven't done that in years!). The bad news is that I did a photo card (though it is one of those cuter card companies). The good news is that I plan to illustrate my letter. I haven't drawn anything in months since my "studio" has been my kitchen! I've been creating culinary arts this year.

Hope your holiday preparations are moving along at a jolly pace and that you have a great weekend!

I love life

2011-12-07T13:05:00.002-05:00

by Tasha Tudor

I was thinking about all the people that do great things like teaching classes on traditional cooking and fermenting; people who open great little food stores where I can find the special foods I like to buy or hold stands at farmers markets; the farmers who grow our food not to make a profit but to grow really good food in a good way for us and the earth; for people who make soap and lotions from real ingredients sourced locally and smell sooo good!; and people who are genuinely nice people with attitudes of "what can I do" instead of "what can I get".

I love the change of seasons. People probably think I'm crazy for wanting to move more north than south, especially when I'm older. I love snow in winter, changing leaves and chilly autumns, good rains and sun for spring and not too hot temps for summertime so I can be outside most of the time without dying of heat stroke! When I started to eat more seasonally, I realized how quickly each season passes and that makes me appreciate them even more. It's as much fun to pull out mittens and scarves and crunch around in the snow, as it is to throw open the windows at the first sign of warmer spring days.

I love simple things in my life: books, good tea leaves, beeswax candles, someone playing their guitar while I cook (they all three play now!), chocolate, french press coffee, the smell of fresh pine needles, blankets piled on the bed in winter, taking the dog on walks through different trails, eating family dinners every night, hugs from my kids for no apparent reason. I love the reverence at Mass especially at holiday time. I love advent calendars, and receiving and sending Christmas cards, hearing traditional carols over and over again. I love hearing about all the good things my friends eat at foreign restaurants that I couldn't eat but could only imagine how wonderful it must be!

I guess I could write a book about all the things I love. Which is why I felt compelled to say "I love life".

making curds and whey

2011-12-07T09:50:00.003-05:00

I rigged up a little whey making contraption on the counter. This is my first time trying this and I think it's really very easy. You just need some cheesecloth (but a cotton dishtowel will do), a large bowl and something to keep the bag above it. Then you need real yogurt with no additives. I'm using Seven Stars Farm plain yogurt. It says it has Acidophilus and Bifidus and other living cultures in it. Store brand yogurts have added sugar and preservatives and the probiotics have all but died by the time you buy it off the shelf. The perfect yogurt to use would be homemade from raw milk.

Whey is that drippy liquid that you see on top of yogurt in the container and what I'm collecting to use to make my ferments. The living cultures in it is what helps the fermentation process occur and what will give it all the health benefits to our good gut flora! i.e. helps fight colds, flu, viruses and any infections or inflammation brewing down there! I used to think whey was "gross" and I used to pour it off the yogurt and down the sink, but now I know what it is and I'm ashamed I thought so. Whey keeps in the refrigerator for up to 6 months and can be added to almost anything you make in the kitchen. Heating it will destroy some of the culture but you still reap a lot of the health benefits. Fermentation does not require heat so it's basically eating raw food which is popular right now with the raw food diet people. Fermentation has been around forever though, because our ancestors used it when there was no refrigeration. They didn't know about the probiotic benefits back then, or at least, they didn't know scientifically what was happening but they knew it was good for them!

The exciting part of the product above is not only the whey, but that in the end (after 4-6 hours) I will have homemade cream cheese! YUM! So I must find a recipe to use that up! The cream cheese will only be good for 5-7 days in the refrigerator so it must be used more promptly.

I can't wait until next summer when I will be fermenting all kinds of things from the garden and our local farmers! I'll let you see my first experiment with fermented vegetables when I figure out what I'm doing next! I also want to make homemade kombucha (lovelovelove) and kefir (which Caroline loves). It will be so much cheaper than buying it at the grocery and will keep us healthy through the winter.

Little Miss Muffet knew what she was doing, eating her curds with whey! {A great article about curds and whey with lots of wonderful ideas for including it in foods and drink: click here!}

bunny love at Christmas

2011-12-07T08:48:00.002-05:00

Emily (from Art of the Masses) has created an interactive video advent calendar this year and as usual, it leaves me with wonder at how she does it! Check out "A very Zoe and Dante Christmas" for a little holiday fun!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

2011-12-06T14:19:00.001-05:00

St. Nicholas Bringing Gifts by Elisabeth Jvanovsky

Celebrating St. Nicholas by Elisabeth Jvanovsky

St. Nicholas is one of my favorite Saints, probably because he was part of my life long before I was Catholic. Today is his Feast Day and of course, time for little presents for the children! Learn more about him and the history of St. Nicholas here.

sugar in my salt?

2011-12-06T14:06:00.002-05:00

I'm learning about fermentation or creating cultured foods at home, and one of the things to start with, is to make sure I have good (healthy) salt to use. GOOD salt is UNREFINED Sea Salt-- no bleaching and no refining which takes out the good nutrients and natural idodine. This can be tricky! The salt above was in our cupboard... it looks like it might be good BUT it isn't! It is refined which means it will cause all the bad things we tend to associate high intake of salts with. REAL unrefined sea salt will actually have the opposite effect or good health benefits and will not cause high blood pressure. The biggest surprise was that most regular table salt actually has sugar added! "Ingredients: Salt, Calcium Silicate (Anticaking Agent), Dextrose, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Bicarbonate." Besides all the extra (bad) additives, dextrose is a sugar. Another clue as to why our populations are dealing with diabetes... sugar is hiding everywhere!

So... it's okay and necessary to our functioning to eat salt. Just make sure it's good unrefined celtic sea salt or himalayan salt or something similar. :)

dreaming of a white Christmas

2011-12-05T16:27:00.003-05:00

home by Whitten Architects

St. Nick is coming...

2011-12-05T16:20:00.004-05:00

felt ornaments on etsy

I'm still here! It seems the days fly by and I haven't had time to post anything. Tomorrow is St. Nicholas Day so I had to start my Christmas shopping this morning. We decorated the house for Christmas over the weekend and it's merry and bright around here. Caroline is turning her bedroom into a winter wonderland, making two paper snowflakes a day to hang from her ceiling. I'll have to try to remember to take a photo! I am starting to learn how to ferment so my head has been buried into food recipes and books on nutrition. I've still been contemplating a nutrition degree but that can wait. If you're wondering why you haven't received a Christmas card yet, well, it's because I haven't even started them yet! I will, I will. I've also been daydreaming about moving to Maine, buying some chickens and alpacas, a floor loom and growing a huge garden. You can call me Tasha Tudor... I am in love with the idea! And so is Caroline because then we could get a horse for her too! ;) Ah, daydreams. In the meantime, we've been lighting the beeswax pillar candle every evening, listening to Christmas music and enjoying some good homemade meals together. Hope you are enjoying your holiday preparations!

vertigo

2011-11-30T14:47:00.002-05:00

Besides being a cool poster and a great classic movie, I posted this because I'm suffering from vertigo today. I have no idea why. I'm not sick (though maybe it's allergies?). I was doing yoga last night, went into an inverted pose and the room tilted... badly! I almost fell over, was dizzy all night and am still off balance this afternoon. What to do? If anyone ever has had it, please tell me how you cured it!

****************************************************************************

Thank you for your help! My friend Becky suggested it might be ear stones which I had never heard of but it is quite possible that mine were displaced. My cousin Terrill also asked her yoga instructor friend and she thought it may have to do with my sinuses and that putting pressure on my ears. The great news is that I took it easy last evening (with my head in a still position) and when I woke up, it was all but gone! I was ready to call the doctor so I avoided that for now. It makes me wonder how many others deal with something like this often and so now I have more compassion for older people because it is more common in the elderly.

I'm watching a beautiful sunset as I type this, some chili is cooking for dinner, and the house is quiet as the kids are working on their homework. I've been lighting a beeswax pillar candle every evening on the table and it reminds me of Tasha Tudor and a simpler time. We watched the tree lighting on Rockafeller Plaza last evening on tv and it ushered in December. Happy December 1st! The kids opened their advent calendars this morning before school and I got to see "Breaking Dawn" at noon. It was a theater with just moms... kind of funny! I'm not sure if I liked this one... very violent, but that's the story. Hopefully the last one will be a little lighter. Have a good evening!

this and that

2011-11-29T14:51:00.001-05:00

::: 51 Fantastic Uses for Baking Soda... time to stock up!

::: Reading about Magnesium here... great article with some eye-opening insights about what could be troubling you and you never suspected magnesium. My Mom was just diagnosed with osteoporosis and so Magnesium is definitely something I'm interested in right now.

::: Small magazine Issue 20 was just posted. Even though I don't have little ones anymore, I still love looking at it.

::: Amy's article on "Why Artists & Illustrators Should Get a Job" brought up great points and an abundance of feedback... worth a read if you are one.

::: I've been avoiding the topic of Occupy Wall Street, but this article blows the lid off of what is going on and why we haven't heard about it!

::: Still haven't seen this movie but maybe this week! Anyone want to go with me?

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T16:58:00.002-05:00

Our Thanksgiving week started off with a celebration when Nathaniel made his Confirmation at Church. The next Sacraments to be celebrated are either Marriage or Ordination. We are so proud of him! He looked very handsome too... he's growing up! I lost one of my favorite earrings that evening (it's not there in the photo, that's how I knew I lost it at Church) and this morning I checked the Lost and Found but didn't find it. Wouldn't you know that as I was walking out, past the Christmas tree, there on the skirt beneath the tree was my earring! After 5 Masses and all that traffic, there it was. I believe St. Anthony of Padua (the Patron Saint of lost things) placed it right there so I happened to see it! That made my day!

On Tuesday we lost Chloe. I can't write any more about it except that I cried all day long. I'll miss her.

On Wednesday we hit the road, along with most of America, and traveled to see my parents in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a whirlwind visit, as it always is, but this time I was able to see a couple of my cousins and my aunt and uncle. My cousin John and his wife had their first child on Monday... a gorgeous little girl who I was able to hold already! My cousin Becky and her husband also had their beautiful second daughter four weeks ago and I was able to hold her for awhile too! I forgot how much I miss having babies, especially girls. I know I shouldn't be partial but I just love girls. I suppose because I am one and I grew up with only sisters. I adore Nathaniel so don't get me wrong! It was a good trip and we had good weather on the trip back yesterday. We listened to the Ohio State/Michigan game which was fun. Though Ohio State lost, it was a good game. That and lots and lots of Christmas music!

Today was special because it's the First Sunday of Advent. The Church was decorated, the new Mass started today, and everyone is excited for Christmas. Craig and I went and picked out a real tree this year and a huge wreath for the front door. We got the outside all decorated and next comes all the indoor decorating! It seems like December is coming quickly this year but we are all anxious for the holidays and all the family traditions it brings!

Interview with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride about GAPS

2011-11-16T09:38:00.001-05:00

Here is a short interview with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride who is the doctor responsible for researching and naming the GAPS diet: Gut and Physiology Syndrome. It is ground-breaking treatment for an exhaustive list of conditions that continue to increase in staggering numbers. Dr. Natasha focused on this after finding out that her own son had autism and was able to cure him. He is now a normal, healthy adult. Of course I'm interested because my gluten intolerance is all gut related... but now I see how many conditions come from the same problem. I had colic as a baby as so many do.

This interview was done by the lovely Domestic Divas Sherry Rothwell and Adrienne Percy, when they were at the Weston A. Price Foundation's Annual Convention last week in Dallas, Texas. I'm so glad they were able to interview Dr. Campbell-McBride as well as Sally Fallon Morrell (below)!

An interview with Sally Fallon Morell

2011-11-14T15:37:00.002-05:00

Well, you probably know or at least have guessed that Sally is my hero! Thank God for her and her decision to start the Weston A. Price Foundation!!! I love this little interview because it answers some of the questions most of us have had and addresses the main reason why we are so passionate about this way of eating and feeding our children. As she says, people of our parents' generation will not be as sick by the modern diet because they started out on a more traditional diet. Children today will be much more sick and have shorter life spans than their own parents... this is the first time in history that this has happened! But the wise will outlive the ones who do not choose to nourish their families. It's the way it works. I hope that all of my friends and family join the former and choose to live long, healthy lives! The Conference was this past weekend in Texas and I'm hoping to find a DVD of at least some of the talks. The DVD from the London Conference was incredible!

Eat real food. Be well. Be happy.

Happy 11-11-11

2011-11-11T17:12:00.001-05:00

Last night we watched "the Holiday" with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude law and Jack Black. I have to admit that I rented it because Jack Black was in it! I think he's hilarious. He actually had a smaller part but the movie was still entertaining. If you're in the mood for a very long movie about difficult love stories, then this is good. Actually I fell in love with the scenery in this more than the characters, but still, there is a twist to the characters by the end and it ended up being one of those movies that I thought a lot about today. The funniest thing to me was that Cameron Diaz's character makes movie trailers for a living and they're always going off in her head about her own life. When I was a teenager and I'd be walking home from school, I'd always feel like there should be music playing in the background and I'd imagine a video of the whole thing! Maybe I missed my movie making calling? I'm sort of doubting that but hey, it's fun to dream!

A big Thank You to our Veteran's today for their service! I always remember my cousin John's service in Iraq on this day. He is lucky to be back home, married and expecting his first baby any day now! I am also getting a kick out of the 11-11-11. My kids think we should make a wish on 11:11 am (I missed that) so I will make a wish at 11:11 pm.

Have a great weekend!

cute alien robot

2011-11-10T16:34:00.006-05:00

This guy showed up yesterday at our house and keeps making appearances in different rooms. Nathaniel was bored and asked for some old boxes... and our alien robot showed up! So, he starts off the cuteness on the blog. I've just been burying my nose in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child which I picked up at the library. It's fun to read instructions written in a completely different time period (and one I adore). I remember watching Julia on tv with my Mom and marveling at how this woman could do what she did. I would have loved to meet her in person.
The kids are off of school tomorrow (again) and so our weekend starts earlier. I'm making them help clean the house tomorrow (they don't know that yet) but tonight we're having a great dinner (thanks to Julia Child) and maybe watching a (free) movie I picked up while I was at the library too! ;)

Indian Summer

2011-11-08T14:05:00.003-05:00

The cattails are turning into cotton. It's 71 degrees outside. Beautiful day for a long walk!

chocolate

2011-11-06T14:23:00.001-05:00

Birthdays wouldn't be the same without indulgences in sweets... especially chocolate! I am in love with coconut lately so I decided to bake myself a gluten-free Coconut Cake with homemade chocolate icing. It probably would have been even better with vanilla icing but I'm surrounded by chocolate lovers at this house. The cake was so moist and delicious (thank goodness!). This is my first cake baking experience using a different flour-- in this case, coconut flour.

Since I was in a chocolate mood, I also found this recipe for Rustic Mayan Chocolate Truffles which has in it Chipotle Chili powder, orange rind, cinnamon, sea salt, coconut milk, and real vanilla bean. The recipe comes from Nourished Kitchen also. Heaven if you like dark chocolate with some kick! I felt like Juliette Binoche as Vianne in my very favorite movie "Chocolat"... making Mayan chocolates. Really good with coffee or basically anything! ;)

It's been a gorgeous weekend in Lancaster... the sun is shining and we gained an hour on our clocks this morning due to the time change. I was surprised by some birthday wishes from friends who I really didn't expect to remember my birthday and that was really sweet. After a tremendous dinner last evening at Ma(i)son with my family, we all got into our pajamas and watched "Inception". I understood it much better watching it the second time around! All in all, a good birthday weekend... even after watching soccer in the cold for 3 hours!

I think it's time for some cuteness on this blog! In celebration of the holidays coming, I will try to start posting more fun projects and illustrations. I have been working on one felt project and I can't wait to show you... it's just sort of like Santa's workshop down there in the studio and I feel like I shouldn't show anything until it's finished. So... see you back here real soon!

birthday wishes "like a boss"!

2011-11-04T08:16:00.004-04:00

I always say I'm the luckiest Mom because my kids always know how to make my birthday special! They both have their own ways... Caroline always writes touching letters to me, expressing things that I sometimes don't hear and I'm lucky that I do! She has written poems and drawn little pictures. This year along with the letter, she gave me a "free pass" to ask her to do anything! (I might keep that one until I'm old!)

Nathaniel is my comic artist. He knows I adore his cartoons so he made me this card which has some inside jokes in it-- I'll keep it and remember when he was 14 and so funny!:

Obviously I'm going to live until 180 so I have a ways to go yet! (I feel so young!) Tomorrow night we're going to a new restaurant in town (which was completely booked tonight!): MA(i)SON, a farm to table restaurant with an urban vibe. It actually is in the same space that our old favorite Ephie Ophelia was in. The chef I know who worked at the CSA I was part of, is good friends with the couple that started the restaurant and highly recommended it. They've been very busy so it must be good! That is one good thing about living in Lancaster-- there are more chefs using food from our local farms.

Lots of birthdays this month! My mom's is today; Ruby's was yesterday so head over there to wish her a happy one; Diane's is coming up on Wednesday... did I forget anyone? Lots of Scorpios in my life! ;)

And THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes and presents I received already from my good friends and family!!!! You guys are all very special to me!!!

Hope you have a great weekend!
x bethany

red cabbage and apples

2011-11-03T14:12:00.001-04:00

I just finished making a big pot of Red Cabbage "Dutch Style" from Nourishing Traditions. I was going to post the recipe but I doctored it up to taste more like the red cabbage from my childhood... which is why I made it today-- for a birthday treat tomorrow! Growing up with German relatives, this was a pretty regular side dish at my Oma's table.

What I didn't know when I was young, was that it's full of vitamin C which is really important as the weather gets colder. Today I saw a study that says vitamin C might be an answer for Celiac and gluten intolerant people because it's been shown to minimize the effects of gliadin on intestinal tissue. (Your body will produce gliadin if you eat wheat and that's the allergic reaction-- inflammation. This is why a stool sample tests for the presence of gliadin.) The inflammation to the digestive tract is practically nil when vitamin C is mixed with gliadin which would allow the accidental exposure to grains back into the diet safely. This is good news! They have to do a lot more testing to see how that would actually work.

Regardless, cabbage has been eaten for centuries as a healing food-- it's a good source of fiber as well as of carotenoids, B complex, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and calcium. Raw cabbage has more vitamin C than cooked cabbage but it's not recommended on a daily basis because of the presence of goitrogens, substances that block the formation of thyroid hormone. This in turn makes it difficult for the liver to convert the plant form of vitamin A (carotene or carotenoids) into the animal form, which it needs for thousands of biochemical processes. On the plus side, cabbage is rich in substances that block the formation and spread of tumors. Folk medicine values cabbage for the stomach. Irish girls traditionally drank cabbage water for the complexion. Research has also shown the juice of a cabbage to be highly therapeutic for ulcers.

What I really want to do is ferment some cabbage! This is how kraut should be made... it gives you the benefits of vitamin C (like raw) but the fermentation makes it digestible and imparts it with probiotics which are wonderful at keeping your digestive system and hence, your whole body, very healthy! Fermentation is an old process-- necessary during a time when there was no refrigeration. It's still very much in use today and hopefully, even more so, as young people are learning how to ferment vegetables, fruit, bread, drinks... so many things! I hope to be one of them.

crazy?

2011-11-02T09:22:00.004-04:00

I know you've probably seen this quote by Steve Jobs a lot lately. I just saw it again today and it made me think about all of the things I've been learning lately and how many people are just satisfied with the status quo of the medical community's information. Of course I don't understand that at all, as people all around me continue to get really sick. But maybe it's easier to leave it up to everyone else to tell us what to do? I was beginning to think I was a little crazy when met with resistance to facts and truths. My daughter asked me last evening why people don't listen to the facts. I really don't know the answer to that. I do know that I have never wanted to be a "sheep" in this life... someone who blindly follows even it my shepherd leads me off of a cliff! One could say Jesus was considered crazy too in his day. That doesn't really make me feel better though. I listened to Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's speech he gave to The Weston A. Price Foundation's Conference in London in 2011 and he said that he had a theory about heart disease. When looking at the data between England and France, it shows almost identical numbers in high cholesterol and saturated fat intake. (This is part of the "French Paradox" you've probably heard about.) But the English population suffered from higher heart disease numbers and cancer and the French had low numbers. What was the difference he saw between these populations? The French have leisurely long meal times and usually in the company of others. It is a social, relaxing time. The English eat so quickly and rarely take any time to do so. Where there may be a two hour lunch in France, there would be a 15 minute lunch meal in England. I was just talking to my friend in France about the differences in our meal time because Caroline is studying that in her French 2 class this year. Her daughter has a hurried lunch of only 30 minutes, when most of her classmates have an hour. My children are rushed through the cafeteria, barely getting 25 minutes of eating time and the food is not prepared from fresh. It is a constant stressful period in their day. Most countries who have siestas after lunch, have lower heart disease numbers. Could stress and heart disease be related? Dr. Kendrick thinks so. When animals eat, they follow it with a nap. It's natural. When you eat a meal, do want to immediately jump up and exercise? Not only that, but our bodies digest food differently when we are under stress and more cortisol is being released and hormones are at different levels. So to apply this to your own life is pretty easy: slow down, pay attention to how you are eating and try to take more time at meals, especially the dinner hour (or two!). Is this crazy? I think sometimes we trust the drug companies and the food manufacturers to tell us what is crazy and what is not. Maybe I'm not crazy at all but seeking a sane way to live. I'd like to think that Steve Jobs realized that too but we might be on a completely different page. I do, however, have a lot of respect for doctors like Dr. Malcolm Kendrick or for people like Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig who go against the "rules" and tell it like it really is. Try to enjoy your day today, calmly! ;)

raw milk rally

2011-11-01T19:58:00.004-04:00

milk and cookies necklace on etsy

From what I've been able to find, there wasn't any direct response by the FDA to the Raw Milk Freedom Riders today in support of interstate raw milk trafficking. They did, however, issue a statement about the dangers of consuming raw milk: "Since 1987 there have been 143 reported outbreaks of illness...". So I did a little searching on their website for the actual reported cases which I couldn't find except for 3. It struck me too that in actuality 143 cases in 24 years is not a whole lot. Especially if people only suffered flu-like symptoms like the 3 cases reported in July, 2011. I don't agree with them when they say the health benefits of raw milk haven't been substantiated. This is simply and obviously not true. That's why when milk is pasteurized, they add vitamin D back in! My other observation is that people have been drinking raw milk in very large numbers for centuries... even modern times on farms right now. Compare the small number of reported cases with the outbreak of E. coli in spinach: 199 cases by Oct. 6, 2006 (from FDA website) and in Nestle Toll House Refrigerated Cookie Dough: 76 cases by July 10, 2009 (from FDA website), and the most recent Listeriosis outbreak in cantelope: 133 persons by Sept. 2011 (from FDA website). Each of these outbreaks could be tracked to a single source and a single occurrence. The 143 supposed reported cases of "illness" from raw milk have occurred over 24 years! Not being a mathematician, I can still tell that the statistics say that raw milk is pretty safe to drink! The percentage chance of getting sick is so minimal, it is amazing that they spend lots of government dollars on patrolling it. If that doesn't convince you, then the numbers I will tell you next will: In 1982 alone, there were 17,000 persons who became ill with Yersinia enterocolitica from pasteurized milk bottled in Memphis, Tennessee. And there are a long list of many other outbreaks in pasteurized milk and other foods here. I remember reading about the outbreak in 2007 of over 1,644 illnesses among inmates linked to pasteurized milk at a local prison dairy. An irrational conclusion would be to avoid dairy, but again, that conclusion would have to be applied to the many cases of food poisoning and illnesses that so many different foods have caused. Food will spoil if not properly collected or contained and we should expect shorter spoilage dates, unless fermented. Food has been shown to have the most vitamins at it's freshest state. Our other choice would be to live off of formula or pills. Not my idea of a good solution.

You might remember that recently I mentioned that a judge in Wisconsin ruled that we do not have the fundamental right to drink milk from our own cow (here)? Well, guess what?!-- That judge resigned and is now working for one of Monsanto's law firms! (here) It makes one wonder if he had connections to Monsanto all along or if Monsanto sees one of it's own type and goes after them! The conclusion: Monsanto is bad news. But we knew this!

************************
To my point:
If a sample of clean raw milk is suitably covered and left at room temperature for several days it will ferment or sour.

Any pathogenic bacteria present will be killed by the action of the Lactobacillus and associated beneficial bacteria.

Fermentation or souring is a much better means of extending shelf life of milk than pasteurization. Fermented milk is tolerated better than pasteurized milk by many individuals.

Fermentation starts digesting the milk protein casein, and digests some of the lactose. Souring of milk does not destroy any of milks beneficial properties.

Treat a sample of pasteurized milk in the same way as above and putrefaction will make the milk unfit for human consumption. This is due to disease producing bacteria surviving the pasteurization process.

The beneficial lactic acid bacteria do not survive pasteurization.

Milk is also homogenized. Homogenization serves no useful purpose. Whatever useful property of milk that survives pasteurization is completely destroyed by homogenization.

It also serves to hide from the consumer the presence or absence of milk fat or cream.

The ability to add questionable additives to cover up taste or odors is beyond most consumers imagination.

Autumn with Class

2011-11-01T11:41:00.003-04:00

Autumn with Class by bethany-jane featuring yellow gold drop earrings

Dorothy Perkins yellow party dress
£30 - dorothyperkins.com

Coat
$150 - modcloth.com

Sigerson Morrison mid heels
£164 - theoutnet.com

Milly handbag
$335 - net-a-porter.com

Paloma yellow gold drop earrings
$7,500 - tiffany.com

Gold heart jewelry
$2,900 - tiffany.com

Paloma 18 karat gold ring
$1,000 - tiffany.com

Victorinox swiss army watch
$550 - nordstrom.com

Leather sunglasses
$160 - ralphlauren.com

Vintage style hat
$28 - nordstrom.com

Chanel - Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour - # 11 Legende...
$42 - yesstyle.com

No. 5 by Chanel for Women, Eau De Parfum Spray, 3.4 Ounce: CHANEL:...
$95 - amazon.com

Stoles And Shawls Hermès Cashmere And Silk
$1,075 - usa.hermes.com

*** This automatically posts to my blog... it's just for fun. I don't recommend spending this amount on the jewelry and scarves!!!

my m&m's

2011-10-31T18:40:00.002-04:00

Just dropped them off at their friend's house to meet the rest of the pack. They did take a few minutes to pose for me... and Elle got all wound up too. She wanted to go trick-or-treating also.
(Someone remind me not to use my phone camera next time!)
**********************
The trick-or-treaters are back and they had a good time! Not as many houses participated, probably because it is Monday evening but from the looks of their bags, it was quite enough! I guess there were only 4 m&m's out in this pack. And we even had two trick-or-treaters at our house (I quickly grabbed some Hershey bars that I had for s'mores... hope they like dark chocolate!). Hope you had a boo-tiful Halloween too!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:47:00.001-04:00

I think my two are going with friends as m&m's... a whole pack! :P Of course they'll have to dodge snow drifts this year! Hope you have a good one!

what's wrong with this picture?

2011-10-30T21:06:00.003-04:00

This is the "food pyramid" that the government is promoting right now. On first glance, it looks good. But if you look at this, most of your food would be carbohydrates which is not good for your body which needs proteins and fats to do most of it's metabolic functions like fighting colds or giving you energy to do your daily tasks. They suggest "lean protein" which means you don't get enough good saturated fats which your body needs to be nourished, and which also helps you absorb many of the vitamins you just ate in other foods. Saturated fat also keeps your immune system strong... you need A and D which are found in animal meats. The reason Grains are on there in such a large amount is because we have a huge food industry involved in growing and shipping wheat all over the world. You need very, very little grain in your diet to be healthy. And wheat is not a staple... oats and quinoa could easily fulfill your want of grains. You probably haven't noticed how much processed food is mostly grains... and these do nothing for your body or give you energy like protein and fats. This website promotes fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk which again is higher in sugars and to achieve that low-fat ratio, has powdered cholesterol added back in as well as synthetic vitamins because the real vitamins were destroyed in the pasteurization process. Most people do not tolerate this fake milk well. It's not real milk and your body has a hard time digesting it or getting anything nutritional from it. Fruits can be consumed minimally also. They are high in sugar and should only be eaten in their natural state, in small amounts, if you want any vitamin benefit from them. That means juices are way too sugary and are nutritionally negative to your body.

What this means is that if you're looking for good nutritional advice, the government is not the place to find it. This also means that the obesity epidemic will continue to rise because this food pyramid will not solve it-- carbohydrates are used first by the body and your fat is burned after that. If you keep putting carbs into your body, you will never burn the fat you have stored. And eating fat does not cause the fat storage on your body. Too many carbs does! So eating too many carbs leaves you with fat accumulated on your body, low energy, constant hunger cravings and no nutrition.

noon snow update

2011-10-29T12:10:00.001-04:00

An hour ago this was pretty, now it's getting scary! We were sitting in the family room and heard a big crunch! A huge limb broke off and fell right behind our house (see the second picture) and we keep hearing other creaking and breaking noises! The big limb on the tree out front (see the one on the left in the first picture) is now touching the ground. I think we've had enough bad weather in Pennsylvania to last us for the rest of the year (or two)!

our weathermen were actually right!

2011-10-29T10:24:00.002-04:00

Snow in October! The snow started about twenty minutes ago and it looks like we will get a lot! Time to pull out indoor projects and the blankets! I just hope we don't lose power because the snow on the trees that still have their leaves makes the branches very heavy and it could down some power lines. We'll hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. Thank goodness for the fireplace.

they say the snow is coming...

2011-10-28T20:35:00.001-04:00

and I believe them! The air is full of moisture and the clouds are thick like a quilted blanket... ready to drop some snow on us starting at 2 am in the morning! The weathermen are calling for 6-10 inches. I am really doubting that. But it looks like we might have just had one of the quickest autumns I ever remember!!!

a snow sky

sort of fitting, don't you think?

2011-10-28T13:54:00.001-04:00

by Julene Harrison

I may have to attend this...

2011-10-27T19:36:00.004-04:00

‘Milk and Cookies’ Could Get Moms Arrested

Mothers to Break Federal Raw Milk Transport Ban

Washington DC - The beloved American tradition of milk and cookies is a crime

for some mothers, according to the Farm Food Freedom Coalition, organizers of

a planned civil disobedience on November 1. A US Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) regulation makes the transport of raw milk intended for

human consumption across state lines illegal, even for individuals purchasing it

legally in one state and carrying it into the states where they live.

On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, a group of moms will challenge the FDA’s ban

on interstate transport of raw milk by picking up fresh milk in Pennsylvania,

transporting it to Maryland, then distributing it, along with cookies, in front of FDA

headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland at a rally from 12:00 -3:00pm.

After numerous armed federal assaults and undercover investigations on

farmers, coops and buying groups that supply their raw milk, mothers across the

country are disgusted with the FDA’s aggression and ready to take action to

protect their families’ food.

“By criminalizing me for the food choices I make for my family, the FDA is

effectively saying that I have no right to feed my family what I, as the parent,

know is best for them,” says Suzy Provine, one of the “raw milk freedom riders”

who chooses fresh milk for her family. “It is one thing to inform me about my

choices, but the FDA goes too far by forcing what they think is best on my

family.”

The FDA is disrupting thousands of families' food supplies by pressuring states to

restrict access to raw dairy. States like Wisconsin and California are shutting

down family farms by threatening penalties and jail for farmers.

View www.naturalnews.com/033280_FDA_raids_timeline.html for a timeline of FDA’s

raids on raw milk farmers. Visit www.FarmFoodFreedomCoalition.com for information

about the organizers. For more information on raw milk, go to www.westonaprice.org

###

You are invited to the RAW MILK FREEDOM RIDERS’

‘Milk and Cookies’

Rally and Demonstration

FDA Headquarters, Silver Spring, MD

November 1, 2011

12:00-3:00pm.

Prior to the rally, a group of parents will illegally transport raw milk

across state lines and bring it to the rally, at FDA headquarters, for

distribution. The FDA has been invited to the scene of the crime (see

Max’s video inviting them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8KfB7005UY)
and is welcome to join us for a nourishing, wonderful, raw

milk and cookies picnic. We’ve made it super easy for them by

bringing the goodies right to them.

Please Join Food Freedom Fighters

MICHAEL SCHMIDT, Canadian raw milk farmer and activist

Joel Salatin Of Polyface Farms

Kristin Canty Producer of Farmageddon

David Gumpert, Blogger, the Complete Patient

Karine Bouis-Towe, Co-Founder Farm Food Freedom Coalition

Liz Reitzig, Co-Founder Farm Food Freedom Coalition

Max Kane, Wisconsin Raw milk Activist

Mark McAfee, Organic Pastures Dairy

John Moody, Food Club, Kentucky

Denise Dixon, Owner, Morningland Dairy

Sally Fallon Morrell of Weston A. Price Foundation

RAW MILK FREEDOM RIDERS, and RALLY PARTICIPANTS

As we peacefully demonstrate in front of the FDA our right to purchase, transport and consume RAW milk and cookies!

EMBEDDED REPORTERS

Adam Kokesh of Adam vs the Man

Robert Scott Bell of the Robert Scott Bell Show

Will be along to cover the action! Stay tuned!

See www.RawMilkFreedomRiders.com for additional details and to participate

Invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=291787024165804#!/event.php?eid=291787024165804

some new links

2011-10-27T14:20:00.002-04:00

I had deleted my list of instructional sites and also my gluten free links... only to have a good friend of mine write to me and tell me she was searching for my links on crocheting! So I put together a new list of links and hopefully, as I remember them, I will continue to add things that I find which are very useful. Look down there in the right column... the list is on the lower half of the page.

I'm thinking I need to go through my blog lists and update that, but you know as soon as I delete one, they'll start to post again and I'll regret it! I don't like to leave anyone out.

My question is: Does it take a long time for my blog to upload to your computer? And do you think twitter is interesting or should I skip that? It might be one of the things that slows down my site.

Okay... enough with blog business... back to the fun stuff! Do take a look at some of the tutorials if you have a chance. They always make me want to create something! And the blog nourished kitchen is where I'll be spending a couple months taking cooking classes! There are some great recipes on there.

We've already started the weekend as the kids have school off tomorrow! Happy Weekend!

we love pumpkins

2011-10-27T13:37:00.001-04:00

I'm feeling a little nostalgic today, and so I went to my little button "search this blog" and typed in "pumpkin". I was able to pull up the following from previous posts:

One of my favorites of the kids when they were little... healthy, happy children. Now Nathaniel is much bigger than Caroline!

Elle is checking out the carving job!

Making glittered pumpkins with the ladies at Hatch, my studio... you can find instructions on Martha Stewart's website.

A childhood favorite... Tasha Tudor always has the perfect book for the season!

Only a few more days left in October... November is right around the corner!

really wish I were going...

2011-10-26T15:25:00.002-04:00

**** OH jeesh... I just found out that they held this in King of Prussia, PA last year-- right near me!!! I feel like I always miss out on things... too late to the party!

Lauren Child

2011-10-26T09:42:00.002-04:00

I have always loved Lauren Child's illustrations and writing, since Caroline was little and read her books. I've kept them in my studio for inspiration! Now Lauren has updated her website with a story about how Clarice Bean came to be and her journey to become a writer/illustrator. It's definitely worth a read (and click on all the links in red!). Perseverance and a belief that you can only do your own unique work led her to create this much loved series of books and tv shows. Like she says, "there can only be one Very Hungry Caterpillar!"

lace pumpkins

2011-10-25T16:02:00.001-04:00

I was looking back at posts from October 2008 and I had posted about these beautifully carves pumpkins that Martha Stewart crafts had shown. You can find instructions here. It's sort of exciting to go back through my own blog and rediscover things I posted about (and forgot!). I might just try this carving technique this year. We don't get trick-or-treaters because we don't live in a neighborhood, but it might be pretty sitting on the table at night. I miss seeing the little kids dressed up creatively and passing out candy! I might just have to go down to the next street and walk around with Elle! I think my kids and their friends are all going as m&m candy this year. Are you dressing up and if so, what's your costume?

look what Craig did for Halloween...

2011-10-25T10:01:00.002-04:00

{just kidding} but maybe next year? ;)

5 simple rules for happiness

2011-10-24T08:11:00.003-04:00

bats for halloween...

2011-10-23T18:14:00.001-04:00

Halloween is only about a week away... I just found a couple very cute tutorials from soto softies for you to try, if you want to add to the Halloween fun...

Click on the pictures to go to their tutorial site!

Autumn in Pennsylvania

2011-10-22T11:33:00.002-04:00

Horseback riding surrounded by beautiful trees, High school football and hot chocolate, under blankets watching early morning soccer games, going to a real Harvest Party with our CSA celebrating this year's wonderful bounty of good food and the community of people involved, leaf raking, lots of mums and pumpkins, and possibly the first fire of autumn in the fireplace tonight. This is my favorite time of year! I always get excited for the beginning of the holidays and Advent. I used to think it was something I would grow out of or not care so much about as my children grow up, but celebrating traditions is a big part of the whole rhythm of life. When the weather gets colder, it's time to rest earlier when the sun goes down. Cooking and baking become easier -- warm kitchens make a house a home during the colder months. I love the change of seasons... it makes me appreciate the short time of each season. Just like eating food produced by my farmer friends... each vegetable or fruit is only available (in abundance!) for a short period of time, so we enjoy it as much as we can at it's peak freshness and flavor. Being in a smaller town allows us to enjoy those changes a little bit more-- not as much rushing around and traffic and noise. More farms and ties to the actual land we live on. When I first came to Pennsylvania, I didn't appreciate the farms. Now I love the traditional farmers that keep the land here. I love the Amish's traditions of nurturing the soil, raising healthy animals, keeping life simpler, and doing what is right for the good of families. They've become my friends now and are very special people. Oh, how could I forget apple cider in my list?! Cider from local orchards... yum! And eventually maple syrup. How can you not love this time of year? :)

p.s. If you look closely at the third photo, you can see the heart on Harmony's left flank!

terrain for the holidays

2011-10-22T11:10:00.002-04:00

Terrain at Styer's | 914 Baltimore Pike, Glen Mills, PA 19342 | 610-459-2400

I may have to go to this on my birthday weekend! Doesn't this photo just put you in the mood for the holidays? ;)

Rob Ryan

2011-10-19T16:18:00.001-04:00

Etsy featured this little film about one of my very favorite artists Rob Ryan. I absolutely love what he says about people and about love. That comes through in all of his work. He also has a new book which was just released on Oct. 13 called A Sky Full of Kindness, but I haven't been able to find it yet. If Fred Rogers were still alive, he would have absolutely loved Rob's work!

having fun with felt

2011-10-19T14:55:00.001-04:00

My nieces have been busy... very busy... making these adorable little felt creatures the last two days! I had given them The Cute Book for their birthday last week and they dove into it, creating with felt and thread. I'm so proud of them! We always have fun making things when they come out (last summer it was a bunch of scrabble tile necklaces). Jane sent this photo to me this morning.

I've been working on my top secret project too.. though I hit a snag and have decided to move to felt also. I hope to have something to show you here eventually.

Hope you're having a good week!

wisdom

2011-10-17T10:08:00.003-04:00

There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, pure, simple and useful life."

--Booker T. Washington,
American educator, author and political leader

inbred cat...

2011-10-14T14:56:00.001-04:00

Oh come on, you laughed didn't you?!!! :D This looks exactly like our cat Chloe!!! I needed a laugh today!

There is a cure for cancer...

2011-10-13T20:11:00.002-04:00

Dr. Burzynski's discoveries and treatments work. That statement makes me cry... we don't need radiation and chemotherapy. I am totally stunned-- in an ecstatic way! But his patent was stolen by our government. This story is amazing. Read the movie review below and then watch the movie when you have time. Tell me this doesn't totally blow you away!:

Burzynski: The Movie by Eric Merola

Written by Tim Boyd

October 7 2011 14:29

Burzynski: The Movie
Written, directed, and produced by Eric Merola

Dr. Burzynski is a medical doctor and PhD biochemist who has discovered the genetic mechanism that can cure most human cancers. Numerous interviews are presented with patients of Dr. Burzynski who have been cured. His treatment has no negative side-effects. While his treatment protocol doesn't produce a one-hundred percent success rate it is far better than conventional chemotherapy or radiation, and often successful with childhood brain tumors which are otherwise almost always fatal.
Other pharmaceutical companies routinely receive multi-million dollar grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct research and clinical trials. The U.S. government currently prohibits any tax-payer money to be granted to Dr. Burzynski’s FDA-approved clinical trials. The movie documents how the FDA is controlled by the pharmaceutical companies it is supposed to be regulating on our behalf.
In the 1980s Burzynski battled with the Texas Medical Board, which had asked for successful cases to review, which Burzynski provided. There was no further word for two years. Then the board came back, pretended the cases were not successful and accused him of breaking a law that doesn't exist. After several amendments to the charge, the case went to trial in 1993. Burzynski won. That, however, was just the beginning.

The Texas Medical Board took Dr. Burzynski to a higher, district court. The case eventually went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. Their goal was to revoke his medical license. It was discovered that the FDA was the driving factor behind this relentless persecution. When confronted, the FDA displayed its usual cowardice and refused to go on camera or be quoted. Throughout the 1990s the FDA went before a grand jury and came back with no indictment. This happened at least four times and probably more. They are not clear on this. Apparently it happened so often everybody lost track.
There was an interesting interchange in a congressional hearing between Congressman Joe Barton and FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler. Barton was curious to know how many grand juries are necessary before the FDA concludes there is no fault. The FDA's insolence shines through brightly here. Kessler asks Barton how he knows no fault was found. Barton gives the obvious answer that no indictments were handed down. Kessler then begins splitting hairs over the difference between lack of indictments and lack of fault which understandably baffles the Honorable Joe Barton.
The insanity is then taken to the next level. The FDA authorized Burzynski to conduct clinical trials but continued to pursue a criminal case against him for conducting those clinical trials. Once again, they were unsuccessful. Seriously, I am not making this stuff up. Do we need more evidence that the inmates have taken over the asylum?
If you do need more evidence, you're in luck. On October 4, 1991, the NCI hosted their site visit to Burzynski’s clinic, and verified for themselves that “anti-tumor activity was documented by the use of Antineoplastons.” Seventeen days later, on October 21, 1991, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Dvorit Samid (NCI) filed a patent for Antineoplastons AS2-1. They even had the audacity to include Burzynski as a reference. “The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the government, for governmental purposes..." Over the next three years, the United States patent office approved all eleven copy-cat patents on Antineoplastons.
One revealing detail found in these patents is this statement: “Current approaches to combat cancer rely primarily on the use of chemicals and radiation, which are themselves carcinogenic and may promote recurrences and the development of metastatic disease.” There it is, immortalized in a patent stolen by NCI and the U.S. government. Conventional cancer treatment is carcinogenic.
Dr. Burzynski continues to treat cancer patients using Antineoplastons in FDA-approved clinical trials. In 2009, Phase II of FDA-supervised clinical trials of Antineoplastons was successfully completed. Phase III trials comprise the third and final phase before reaching FDA approval. This movie gets a thumbs UP and so does Dr. Burzynski.

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Fall 2011.

About the Reviewer

Tim Boyd was born and raised in Ohio, graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a degree in computer engineering, and worked in the defense industry in Northern Virginia for over 20 years. During that time, a slight case of arthritis led him to discover that nutrition makes a difference and nutrition became a serious hobby. After a pleasant and satisfying run in the electronics field, he decided he wanted to do something more important. He is now arthritis free and enjoying his dream job working for the Weston A. Price Foundation.

why I write about health stuff on my craft blog

2011-10-11T13:06:00.004-04:00

I know I seem to get carried away with the health articles on this blog. It started as a place where I could post about my knitting and craft things I found. And then my art work. But it also included what my family was up to and my interests like music and books. I think when you write a blog for years, your whole person comes out, especially when you write from the heart.

I read things that maybe most people find boring or sometimes hard. Maybe I should have gone into medicine. Maybe I will! But after feeling so badly for so long, and I don't mean horrible, but just not healthy, I decided to do something about it. This led to so many discoveries-- things that not only helped me, but I knew might help others who I knew were struggling with different things. What I sometimes forget is that people only take information offered when they really are seeking it themselves. So I can share the secret to life, but that doesn't mean everyone wants to hear it. I understand that. Partly because I'm the same way too!

My intention is to help... because that's how I am. I'm a helper. That's why I became a teacher and why I have volunteered so much, because that's my nature. If someone can be happy because of something I've shared, then that is worth a million bucks to me! I'm not motivated by money or by pride. I just want to help end suffering. This is probably misunderstood by people who don't think I have any credentials. That's why I've actually considered going back to school. I have two teenagers heading there too so I don't think I could swing three tuitions. But I have stacks of books to absorb right now anyway!

I know when I started to feel better after finding out I was gluten intolerant and started to heal my gut, cook better food and find real answers, then I felt more like creating and participating in life again. So that is why this craft blog is more a "living" blog.

When there are many, many articles out there, it is hard to know who to trust. This is when I decided that true health should be an innate thing in humans... not prescribed. I found The Weston A. Price Foundation and critically read articles on any subject I could think of, just to see how it would be answered. So far, it has been solid and there is so much scientific data to back what traditional health wisdom they have preserved, that I knew this was my answer. I just obtained the Weston A. Price "Wise Traditions Conference in London 2011" DVD (because obviously I couldn't attend it) and watched the first lecture by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride on GAPS Syndrome. Basically that all health comes from our gut. You might have heard that piece of wisdom by some guy we know as Hippocrates? ;) It is AMAZING! If you click on her name, you'll find her website and of course, I would strongly suggest you check it out. But if you don't, just know that there is a place to go if you ever want to find out how to cure your allergies, heal your intestines, prevent cancer, cure all sorts of childhood diseases, diabetes, seizures, and the list is exhaustive. And I believe it's true 100% because this is what I've done since May.

So bear with me because while I throw out my pearls, I'm sure someone out there will eventually need the link to healing and we may never know it... and they may be healed. ♥

what a way to start the day....

2011-10-11T07:39:00.003-04:00

Inspired by this...

I try to sing this song
I...I try to stand up
But I can't find my feet
I try, I try to speak up
But only in you I'm complete

Gloria...in te domine
Gloria...exultate
Gloria...Gloria
Oh Lord, loosen my lips

I try to sing this song
I...I try to get in
But I can't find the door
The door is open
You're standing there
You let me in

Gloria...in te domine
Gloria...exultate
Oh Lord, if I had anything
Anything at all
I'd give it to you
I'd give it to you

Gloria...Gloria...

U2

chicken and soup

2011-10-10T17:42:00.001-04:00

Even though we're having Indian Summer outdoors and all of my windows are open, Autumn is here gracefully changing the colors of the leaves. All summer I avoid turning on the oven as much as possible but right now I have a chicken roasting and a pot of delicious smelling soup on the stove.

Here is one of my favorite Roast Chicken recipes and a new soup recipe I got from my CSA...

Tasha Tudor's Roast Chicken
1 farm-raised roasting chicken (not a fryer), approximately 6 pounds
salt and pepper
butter or cold bacon drippings
4 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 large onion, peeled
2 fresh bay leaves
1 large handful of assorted fresh herbs, especially tarragon and sage

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Wash the chicken and pat it dry. Place it in a roasting pan, rub it with butter or cold bacon drippings, and salt and pepper it. Insert 2 large cloves of garlic by piercing a hold beside each drumstick. Place another garlic clove in both front and back cavities. Put the onion in the back cavity along with the bay leaves and the fresh herbs. Truss with a string, place in the preheated oven, and cook for 2 hours, basting frequently.

Serves 4 to 6

White Bean Fennel Soup
1 large onion, chopped
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
5 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 (15 ounce) can white kidney or cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
3 cups shredded fresh spinach

In a large saucepan, saute onion and fennel in oil until tender. Add the broth, beans, tomatoes, thyme, pepper and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until fennel is tender. Discard bay leaf. Add spinach; cook 3-4 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted.

Hope you enjoy!

wisdom

2011-10-10T10:33:00.002-04:00

“Parents are like shuttles on a loom. They join the threads of the past with threads of the future and leave their own bright patterns as they go.”

Fred Rogers

Fresh the Movie

2011-10-09T18:56:00.002-04:00

new book out, worth a look...

2011-10-09T16:49:00.001-04:00

FOLKS, THIS AINT NORMAL
By Joel Salatin

We live in abnormal times. Really abnormal times. Times when most people think Twinkies, Cocoa-puffs, and Mountain Dew are safe but raw milk, compost grown tomatoes, and Aunt Matilda's homemade pickles are unsafe. The average morsel of food travels fifteen hundred miles between point of production and point of consumption. Indeed, the average T-bone steak sees more of America than the farmer that grew the cow.

Never in the history of civilization has a culture eaten foods it can't pronounce, foods that can't be made in a domestic kitchen, or foods that won't rot. Living foods mold, rot, and decompose. How long can an M&M remain on your counter without altering its appearance?

Until extremely recent days, people had to think about energy, whether it was providing for draft animals for transportation and power, or accumulating firewood to keep the stove burning in the winter.

We are the first culture to abdicate domestic culinary arts in favor of microwavable boxes of processed, stabilized, extruded, reconstituted, dye-colored, amalgamated, irradiated, nutrient-compromised, transgenic modified, prostituted pseudo-food. Modern America now has the highest rate in history of chronic, debilitating diseases, and leads the world in unhealthiness.

We're the first culture to invent supermarkets and to universally equate children's chores with abuse. We're the first culture to confine animals in factories, use pharmaceuticals on our food, and break the soil-building carbon cycle on a massive scale.

Never one to allow victimhood excuses, Salatin ends each chapter with a bulleted list of "things you can do." This broad book addresses issues as varied as food police, soil development, Disneyfication of the culture, and scientific findings proving pasture-based livestock is far more nutrient dense than factory-farmed counterparts. It will warm your soul.

The book is available here in Kindle and hardcover.

wisdom

2011-10-09T16:32:00.001-04:00

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing it is stupid." ~ Albert Einstein

some of my art

2011-10-08T14:26:00.002-04:00

As I was dusting my bedroom, I wiped away the tarnish from the metal in this enamel picture I did when I was in college. At the time I was fascinated with kimonos and Asian culture. What drew me to it was that design was connected to function and to nature. Everything worked together with respect for what was happening in the outdoors. I still feel like we should live that way now. There was also a simplicity to their design. But most of all I think what attracted me was the quietness that I felt when I looked at traditional homes and mannerisms. I used to love the song from Mister Rogers when he sang "Peace and quiet, peace, peace, peace." We all need silence, peace and quiet in our lives. That's when I do most of my thinking, like today as I was dusting (and still will be!). I like how this piece reminds me to be quiet.

angry bird fun

2011-10-08T13:52:00.002-04:00

Now that I'm addicted to the Angry Birds app on my phone (after our nine hour car ride last weekend)... here's a fun video of a twist on it that I think Craig and Nathaniel should try at their next soccer practice!:

wisdom

2011-10-08T10:19:00.001-04:00

“The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.”

― Fred Rogers

Kayaking on Casco Bay

2011-10-03T10:22:00.002-04:00

We set off on a long car ride up to Freeport, Maine on Friday morning. Freeport is on the coast, but the more southern half, so it's a little closer. We had signed up for the Fall Foliage Kayaking Tour with LLBean's Outdoor Discovery when we got back from Maine in July. Seeing the East Coast in Autumn was on my bucket list and we had all wanted to try kayaking, so this was perfect! Or it would have been if the hurricane had not kept the leaves from changing color yet! So I have to do this again ;) The leaves were still green for the most part. It also rained... not a hard rain, but soft and it did quit once we got out on the water. Like one LLBean employee at the kayak shop said, "There's never bad weather, only bad gear!" so we were set...

Caroline took the photos with Craig's camera... I thought under the circumstances she did an excellent job! Here's a look at pushing off into Casco Bay from the LLBean dock. The water was rough and there ended up being a lot of wind! It was hard paddling but still so much fun!

Here's Caroline... she had a blast!:

Craig loved it too... well, we all did! It is such great exercise and so nice to be in the fresh air!

Here is Nathaniel and I in our tandem kayak. I got to work the rudder with my foot pedals and Nathaniel determined the pace of the rowing. We were racing Caroline and Craig but they managed to beat us (until the very end!). There were 10 people in our group plus the two instructors. One of our instructors is a high school counselor during the week and does this for fun on the weekends. That's what I love about Maine-- people are active outside. It's just too beautiful and too much fun to stay indoors!

After going against the wind the whole way out, then the Bay turned calm and quiet and the water looked like glass again. We got to experience all the weather conditions!

If you notice that kayak way in the distance... that's me and Nathaniel! Yes... first ones in... thank you!

There were houses tucked into the coast line. Oh, to have a house right there, and be able to just push your kayak out for a morning row every day... heaven!

If you ever want to learn an outdoor sport, LLBean Outdoor Discovery is a great way to do it. They provide all of your gear-- even your water shoes! Casco Bay is part of the Atlantic Ocean and has many, many islands throughout it. You should be prepared when you go out on a kayak trip because it could get easy to get lost. The water was warm when we went but it is the ocean, and temps can drop at other times of the year. Back at the LLBean Kayak and Bicycle Shop, we talked over an hour with John who told us so much more... he also said that there is a Paddlefest which happens in June so we might just head back there to try out some different kayaks. Kayaking is a sport for the young and the old... it is one of my favorite things to do now! We headed back on Sunday and now are trying to get back to the busyness of life without losing that feeling of adventure!

Illegal to drink milk from your own cow?!

2011-10-03T09:24:00.001-04:00

from etsy

I had to write about this: Judge Fiedler from Wisconsin just ruled on Sept. 9, 2011 that it is illegal to drink milk from your own dairy cow!!! There was a couple in Wisconsin who bought a cow and also a herd, and had them boarded with farmers so that they could consume it's milk and The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) shut them down! They went to court and this judge denied their Constitutional rights of possessing and using their own dairy herd or the right of privacy and choice in the food they consume. Can you imagine if this is what America's first settlers had to put up with?! I don't know a dairy farmer around Pennsylvania who doesn't drink their own raw milk. That's how Craig grew up. There have been no reported deaths from raw milk but there have been from pasteurized milk and a great many illnesses reported from pasteurized milk as well. (Government Data Proves Raw Milk Safe) In fact, there are more reports of food pathogens from our produce we import and stories like listeria from cantaloupes. I really wonder where our freedom really is. So I've been writing news agencies this morning, hoping someone will pick up the story. You can read more of the facts about this story here. Hopefully this judge's ruling will be overturned and he will lose his seat on the bench!

on my soap box

2011-09-29T10:35:00.003-04:00

I've been emailing my friend Caroline, going back and forth about art education (actually I've written a lot more because I can be so long-winded!!). It is both of our passions... to an extent. We are both finding that we're not too enthralled with academia. SO much talk about practically nothing when you take out the big words and the lofty professions by so-called academics. She is pursuing her Master's degree and I'm wishing I was. Caroline and I are on the same page... she is brilliant and has proven over the past twenty-one years that she can teach circles around anyone! I knew this when she was in college. Anyways...

It seems art education is only taken seriously these days by people IN art education. Or I should say IN college art education programs and academia. Why is this? Because Art Ed has been considered a fluff course and colleges aren't doing their job in studying how visual literacy and communication is important to our arsenal of communication in general. We are such a visual society. How is this not connecting with Educational Academics? Because professors of Art Ed think that they need to pontificate about the next new trend... new theory... new anything and everything. This is where we, as a society, get it wrong in everything we do.

My history teacher in high school made it a point to constantly say that if we don't know history, we were doomed to repeat it. And that was a warning about the mistakes, not so much the good things in life. Though both can happen. Or not.

History of health has been painstakingly recorded yet the medical society, mostly fueled by the prescription drug companies and food conglomerates, neglects to look at the science of diet and it's effects on health and healing. Why is that?!!! It's like ignoring addition and jumping straight to calculus... which is done wrong. This is why I'm a follower of The Weston A. Price Foundation and the scientists who are looking at the data from history which is there. Weston Price did his studies during the 30's and 40's when indigenous tribes of people who still ate traditional food existed and could be studied. And he documented his studies well, especially with photography. There is so much to learn from him! And now brilliant scientists are discovering new information about the body's workings based on his foundation of studies-- that what we eat is crucial to our health. One such doctor has discovered a link between sulphur and our cells... something no one is talking about in the food industry right now. Basically we have been told to stop eating eggs, an extremely easy and excellent source of sulphur, and to put on sunscreen when our skin metabolizes sulphur by the exposure to sun and natural vitamin D... because the main medical industry doesn't understand. Throw out the egg beaters!!!!! Enough with white egg omelets!!! Even vegetarianism... which has been proven by so many peoples over the world's history that it compromises good health. Our Western diet has seeped into all cultures today and ravaged the health of people in every land. Just look at how many people now have crowded teeth and cavities. This isn't how mankind was supposed to be. Look at all the cancer, the Autism, the ADHD, the diseases... seriously... this isn't how people were supposed to function. So sickly instead of full of health!

Academia can easily lose it's perspective of what is logical and real. I am thankful for those academics who are not afraid to study their subject in light of past knowledge. To forget about history and traditions is to make grave errors in all things. The one sure thing in life is that we have history to learn from. I hope that I can teach my own children to understand this concept so that they can make smart decisions for decades and generations to come.

Right now as I was writing to Caroline, I realized that there is no Art Education listed in the curricula of our Elementary public schools in the district. There is Music, Gym and even Library. Where did the Art go? With budget cuts, I am really hoping that it didn't get cut. If it is still there, then why are there no objectives listed? This is a major problem. Am I the one to bring it up with the Superintendent? Aren't there State Objectives that must be fulfilled for Art? If not, then I really have to wonder at the state of education today. This is a very strange world we live in.

Cute owl pattern from Purl

2011-09-25T21:33:00.002-04:00

This IS one Big Snowy Owl! You can find the instructions and the materials on the Purl bee. He's so cute. So is that cat in the photo. She looks like my cat Molly who was my first "child" but passed away the month before Caroline was born. Chlóe got a look at her and says she thinks SHE might look nice on the blog (yes, she's been on here before). And that SHE may want to say a few things on her own blog! Hmmmm. Not sure if I have time to be her secretary. She does keep me company every time I type. My head is swimming with two things: my awesome idea for something I'm going to try to make for etsy and all the health information that I've been reading (I got my first copy of Wise Traditions from The Weston A. Price Foundation). I am considering a degree in nutritional counseling but with all the books and information that I already can read on my own, I think going to school right now can wait a bit. Maybe I'll just follow the kids to college. ;) That way I could keep my eye on them and be a wise old owl!

favorites quotes I heard today

2011-09-25T17:07:00.005-04:00

"Educated women in the the home? What an odd thing to deplore! What better place to have us "end up"... What more important job is there than sharing the values we are learning to cherish with the next generation of adults? What more strategic place could there be for the educated woman?"

~ Edith F. Hunter, "Seeing the Everyday" magazine, #14

"There is no fallibility in joy."

~ Monsignor Youtz

"Parents and children who engage in the daily processes of the home have learned to be less selfish. They are more likely to donate their time and be of service to others."

~ "Seeing the Everyday" magazine, #14

R.I.P. REM

2011-09-21T18:30:00.002-04:00

Did we dance like that back in college when this came out? How can you not?! ;P Turn it up!!!
(Is that Scott Hofmann in the beginning?!! HA!)

Red Yarn

♥ This is really good!...

6 Phrases to Use for a Successful Relationship

You Look Great.

Can I Help?

Let’s Eat Out.

I Was Wrong.

I Am Sorry.

I LOVE YOU.

oh Ryan Gosling...

wisdom

time for the love bug...

cancer

My love for my raw milk dairy

What a week!

on my wish list

thinking positively

50 Lessons I Wish I Had Learned Earlier

Life is for the living. It’s up for grabbing onto and living on the wild side. Life is not about sitting safely in the harbor, but about casting off the bowlines and heading into the unknown. Live life to the fullest today.

Pilates

My Happy Blog Birthday!

beautiful little films

new obsession

Which food lowers IQ 4 points?

This Food Can Slow Your Brain - and it Lowered IQ 4 Points in Recent Study

Posted By Dr. Mercola | January 07 2012 | 55,057 views

Story at-a-glance

To Determine the Perfect Diet, it would Take Thousands of Lifetimes to Read the Medical Literature

Five Sources of Evolutionary Evidence Offer Compelling Clues to Optimal Diet

An Optimal Diet Also Needs to Limit Food Toxins

Dr. Jaminet's Take on "Glucose Deficiency" and Extreme Low-Carb Diets

Glucose—What's it Good for?

On the Glycosylation or Glycation of Proteins—is it Good or Bad?

Why Do Extreme Low-Carb Diets Backfire for Some People?

So, What's the Ideal Amount of (Safe) Carbs?

The Importance of Healthy Gut Flora

Summary of Dr. Jaminet's Perfect Health Diet

More Information

tatsuro eye candy

First post for 2012

2012

saying goodbye to 2011

Christmas at our house...

Sophie Digard

We wish you...

The importance of Adversity

free Pilates workout

Ezra Jack Keats Show in NYC

calling all owl lovers

prayers for the Philippines

Christmas scented salt dough ornaments on Fig and Fauna

6 more days until Christmas...

local flash mob and a big birthday!

getting you in the holiday spirit...

Kale and Navy Bean Soup

snowmen

feeling a little batty?

Be careful what you ask for!

Happy St. Lucia Day

let the fermentation begin!...

a dream present

cookie boxes from Martha

I love life

making curds and whey

bunny love at Christmas

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

sugar in my salt?

dreaming of a white Christmas

St. Nick is coming...

vertigo

this and that

Thanksgiving 2011

Interview with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride about GAPS

An interview with Sally Fallon Morell

Happy 11-11-11

cute alien robot

Indian Summer

chocolate

birthday wishes "like a boss"!

red cabbage and apples